In The Shadows
by Jazzy24
Summary: Wolf and Tony go on a rescue mission to save Virginia ~*~ FINISHED!~*~
1. The Kidnapping

This is My Story...  
  
Summary: My story, 'In The Shadows', takes place directly after the movie. Wolf and Tony must go on a rescue mission to save Virginia, but will they succeed?  
  
Feedback: Let me know what you think, all feedback welcomed! Just, please, try to keep it nice.   
  
My Website: You can also read what I have done for my story at my website ~*~ http://www.jazzy24.s5.com ~*~ I update my story there EVERY Monday and Thursday, I would recommend you reading my story there, I'll try to update it here as often as I can, but sadly, no promises.   
  
Disclaimer: I, unfortunatly, do not own any of the 10th Kingdom characters, do sue! I don't have any money anway.  
  
Ok, without further ado......  
  
  
  
In The Shadows  
  
  
Part One  
  
Wolf walked drowsily into the small kitchen, smiling and following his nose. His creamy dreamy girl was busy cooking breakfast. He yawned and hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.   
  
"Good morning." She said as she stirred the eggs  
  
"Mmmm, good morning." He said sleepily with his eyes closed.  
  
"Did I wake you?"  
  
"No, the food did." He said as he hugged her even tighter. She couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Well, it'll be ready in a few minutes." She said as she turned and kissed him on the cheek.  
  
Wolf smiled and yawned as he headed back to the bedroom of their small cottage, compliments of Wendell. He walked back over by the bed and over to his dresser. He pulled out some clothes and changed into some pants and a blue T-shirt.  
  
As Wolf began to make the bed, he heard the front door crack open. He sniffed the air, and something didn't smell right. It was familiar, but for some reason, he couldn't recognize it. He cautiously made his way down the hallway and into the kitchen.  
  
As he made his way in, he saw Virginia still making breakfast, humming quietly to herself. Noticing his presence, she turned and smiled at him. "Hey, do you want -- Wolf? What's wrong?" She asked, noticing his preoccupied expression.   
  
Something was out of place. Something smelled odd, but he couldn't put his finger on it yet. He shook his head and shrugged, not wanting to worry her. As he made his was across the kitchen, he was suddenly struck from behind and fell to the floor as everything blacked out. The last he heard was Virginia screaming his name.   
  
  
  
Wolf woke up in a daze. He couldn't remember what had happened. He noticed he had been asleep on the floor and for an instant thought he was still in prison. But slowly everything began to flood his memory. He looked around anxiously, Virginia was gone. No sign of her whatsoever. He smelled the air for her scent and followed it, it led outside through the door that was moving back and fourth in the wind.   
  
"Virginia!?" He called out. No answer. His attention was turned to something on the floor in the middle of the kitchen where he had been knocked out. Wolf bent down and picked up some of the pink powder. "Troll Dust." He said angrily. His eyes flashed yellow as he stood up and walked back over to the door.   
  
His eyes searched the field in front of him, there was no sign of any life besides a few bugs flying around and a small rabbit hopping about. He took off into the grass, sniffing the air for any trace of her. It didn't take long to find her scent, he started to run, heading in the direction his nose led him.   
  
Whoever took her was very fast. Before long, he reached the forest and began to loose her scent. "Oh Cripes!" He said as he sniffed the air vigorously, trying to hang onto the smell.  
  
Then, as he walked on, he lost it. She seemed to have vanished into thin air, without a trace. Wolf whined, he was uncertain of what to do. His mind was clouded of thoughts, unable to sort them all out. He sat down on a near by rock, thinking of what he could do.  
  
"Oh Virginia, where did you go?" He let out another whine as he looked around hopelessly. "Stupid, stupid Wolf!" He said angrily as he hit himself in the head, "Not more than ten minutes ago, you had the dreamy creamy girl of your life in your arms, and what do you do? Lose her! Ohhh, where did you go!?" He said and his eyes flashed an immense yellow and his voice filled with rage, "and who took you!?"   
  
Unable to find her scent again, he hurried off to the House of White. Wolf decided to go to Tony and Wendell, maybe they could help him find her. So far, searching for her by himself wasn't getting him anywhere. As he walked on, he would stop every so often, believing he saw her, or caught a whiff of her angelic scent, but to his dismay, it was only his imagination.  
  
He got to King Wendell's castle as quickly as he could, for once not even noticing how terribly hungry he was. When he reached the palace, he headed straight for Tony's room. The guards posted around the castle eyed him oddly, but shrugged him off. It was late in the morning, but he figured Tony for the late sleeper.  
  
Through the twists and turns of the castle, he found his way to Tony's chambers. Even from outside he could hear the faint sound of snoring, he sighed and pushed the door open. The snoring grew louder.   
  
Wolf walked up to Tony's bedside and shook him gently. "Tony?" He asked quietly with a hint of a whine, no response. "Hey Tone?" He asked a little louder, still no answer. "TONY!" He finally yelled, nearly shoving Anthony off the bed.   
  
"Wha...what? I'm awake!" He shouted sitting up. Once his eyes became focused, he looked questionably at Wolf. " Wha -- Wolf? What's going on?" He asked angrily as he straightened himself out.  
  
"Ohhhh. Huff puff, it's Virginia." He said pacing around the room, scratching his temple.   
  
"Huh, now really? What did you two get in a fight about? I always thought she'd be the one to come to me, not you. I mean--"  
  
"We didn't have a fight! She was kidnapped!" He whined as he stopped his pacing, waiting for Tony's reaction.  
  
"What? Kidnapped? By who?"  
  
"I don't know, we'll I do. I know it was Trolls, but I don't know which ones in general. I lost the scent. They were fast, but I followed it as far as I could, and then, poof! It was gone! Ohhh, what if I've lost her forever? What if--"   
  
"Wait a minute!! You. Of all people, lost the scent. I thought you were a wolf!" He said as he got out of bed.  
  
"I am! Well, half-wolf, not full, I thought we already had this discussion Tony. Anyway, I followed her scent to the woods and then it vanished."  
  
"What? People don't just vanish!" He said as he began to get dressed.  
  
"Well, here they do...sometimes." Wolf said and let out a whine as he looked out the window. "We have to find her!"  
  
"No really? Come on, lets go talk to Wendell, maybe he can help." Tony threw on a robe and headed down the hallway, Wolf anxiously following.   
  
When they reached the dining room, the saw Wendell dressed in his finest and eating a huge spread for breakfast. It was then Wolf realized how hungry he was, but stopped himself from practically jumping on the table to grab some bacon.   
  
"Good morning Tony, and ... Wolf? What brings you here?" Wendell said raising from his chair happily.  
  
"Virginia was kidnapped this morning." He said hastily.  
  
"What? How did -- by who!?"  
  
"Trolls. Ugly, despicable, horrible, vile--"  
  
"He gets the point, Wolf." Tony interrupted. "Listen, Wendell, Wolf said that she disappeared--"  
  
"Vanished. Tone, disappear and vanish are two different things." Wolf corrected.  
  
Tony sighed and continued. "Fine, she *vanished* and we were wondering if you knew of a way of how we might be able to find her."  
  
"Well, you could use the spying mirror that the Evil Queen used. Perhaps it could tell you where you need to search for her, or even show her to you." Wendell offered.  
  
"Great, more mirrors." Tony muttered.  
  
"Where are they?" Wolf asked anxiously.   
  
"They're still upstairs in her room. We haven't dared move them yet. There are a few guards up there, but they remain untouched. But, I'm not sure if it'll--"  
  
"Thanks." Wolf interrupted and ran down the hall and up the stairs. Tony followed as quickly as he could, still lagging behind some few yards.  
  
"Wolf! Wait up!" Tony yelled from the bottom of the stairs looking up as Wolf faded off down the hall at the top.  
  
Wolf rushed to the old room, passing the guards without acknowledging them. He stopped running as he entered the room, and looked around. The last time he was in there was not more than two weeks ago, pledging to serve the Queen. He winced at the memory. //It's very simple Virginia, I obey the Queen.// He sighed knowing he hadn't meant it, but the words had stung trying to tell her that. He never wanted to lie to her, but he had to for her own safety. Wolf shook it off and looked as Tony entered the room, chest heaving to catch his breath.   
  
"Come on." Wolf said, waving him into the dark room behind the curtains. He heard Tony swallow hard as they looked at all the mirrors once again. He licked his lips and continued forward.   
  
"There's so many. I never realized it before." Tony said as he gently touched the frame of one mirror.  
  
"Yeah. We need to find the spying mirror. It's not a rectangle one like the traveling mirror, more round and has metal vines encircling it.  
  
"How do you know all of this?" Tony asked as the walked around the room. Wolf didn't answer and shrugged off the question, running his hands over various mirrors.  
  
"There it is!" Wolf pointed to the mirror in the back,it was perched on a column.   
  
"Boy, it's ugly." Tony commented as they approached it.  
  
"Tony, now's not the time for your petty observations. This is the spying mirror, it's what we need to find Virginia!"  
  
  
  
  



	2. Crystals of Amorex

Part Two  
  
  
Tony approached the mirror and grabbed two vines that we sticking out as handholds and then cleared his throat. "What do I say to it?"  
  
"Just ask it where Virginia is." Wolf said getting closer.  
  
"Okay, okay." He paused and looked into the glass. "Mirror, show me Virginia." As soon as the last word left his lips, the mirror began to crack from the sides inward, coming alive. Tony jumped back and yelped as his hands were burned by the metal vines.   
  
They both gasped as the mirror took shape of a face. "I will only answer to the Queen." It replied in a raspy voice.  
  
"Uhh, hate to tell you ... she's dead." Tony informed her.  
  
The mirror was silent. Wolf thought a moment and then approached the mirror once again. "Is there anyway that you will help us?" He asked  
  
"No. I am bound to answer only to the Queen. The only way I will answer to anyone else is if you can find the three crystals of Amorex and place them in the three holds around me."  
  
Wolf ran his gaze along the mirror and noticed the holes that were placed evenly around the mirror."Where are they?" Wolf asked.  
  
"They have been scattered around the 4th Kingdom, by the Queen. Only she knows where each of them lie"  
  
"Why would Christine want to do that?" Tony asked aloud.   
  
"Because then nobody could access her mirror and get her power." Wolf answered and turned back to the mirror. "How will we know where to find them?"   
  
"You can use another mirror to help you on this quest, but I will not until you attach the crystals to me. On the table, there is a small mirror that will help you find them."  
  
Wolf and Tony went back to the table centered in the middle of the room. There was a silver vase of white flowers and a small mirror next to it. It had a long handle and a circular mirror in the center surrounded by a gold frame. Wolf picked it up and looked it over curiously. Tony took it from his hands and did the same.  
  
"A word of caution," The mirror spoke again, causing Tony and Wolf to turn back to it. "My power has been long accessed and without the Queen's power, mine is weakening. Within a week's time, I will forever close, never to be reopened again." And with that, the mirror faded and reflected Tony and Wolf staring at it unbelievingly.  
  
"Oh Cripes! We don't have much time!"   
  
"Well, come on. This thing's supposed to work. It'll help us. I hope." He paused and looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Mirror, tell us where we can find the three crystals of ... of..." He turned to Wolf, "What were they called?"  
  
"Crystals of Amorex" Wolf answered knowingly  
  
"Right, okay mirror, where are the crystals of Amorex?"  
  
It began to come to life as it cascaded it's reflection like a river and answered, "The crystals three all in the 4th Kingdom, which you shall find. The first crystal lies in a town where everyone is kind."  
  
"Great, more rhyming crap. Listen, we don't have time to answer you damn riddles. Where are they!?" Tony shouted.  
  
"Wait Tony, we can figure this out. Kind town." They both were quiet for a moment as they thought.  
  
"Oh! Kissingtown! Right?" Tony asked the mirror  
  
The mirror began to talk once more, "You know now your first crystal clue, you need to find the red, green, and blue."  
  
"Red, green and blue, are those the colors or something?" Tony asked as he grasped the mirror tighter, hoping to choke it until it gave away the answer.  
  
It spoke once more. "I shall not speak, until you need the next clue, where you will far away, find the crystal two." The cascading motion stopped and froze up.   
  
"Ok, Kissingtown, let's go!" Tony said as he held the mirror and left the room. Wolf gave one last glance at the spying mirror and followed Tony.   
  
Tony and Wolf hurried down the stairs and into the Throne room. Wendell set down the set of papers he was reading and went to them.   
  
"Good news?" Wendell asked  
  
"Well, kinda. We have to go to Kissingtown. Got a couple of horses or something we can borrow?" Tony asked.  
  
"Of course, I'll have some men saddle some up, they should be ready in a few minutes."  
  
"Great, I have to go get dressed anyway." Tony went back up to his room to change while Wolf and Wendell helped prepare the horses.  
  
They were both working on placing the saddle on a brown horse, when Wendell noticed how quiet and distracted Wolf was, so he decided to break the silence, figuring he knew what was wrong.  
  
"Listen Wolf, you know, you can't blame yourself for what happened to her."  
  
"Wanna bet?" He said as he kept busy with the knot he was tying.  
  
"It wasn't your fault, there was nothing you could've done."  
  
"I could've stopped them, I could've saved her. But I didn't. Now she's gone and it's all my fault. I've failed her."   
  
"Wolf, you can't say that. You've got to stop bulling yourself and concentrate on getting her back, not on how you lost her. You've saved her many times before, and now, you'll do it again." Wendell smiled and patted Wolf on the back.  
  
"Ok! Let's get going." Tony shouted as he grabbed his provisions, put the mirror in his sack, and got on the horse, with some help. Wolf followed and mounted the opposite horse.  
  
"Which way Wendell?" Tony asked  
  
"Head straight south, at about noon, your should reach a fork in the road, go left and then follow the signs, they'll lead you there. You should be in Kissingtown by nightfall."  
  
"Great, bye Wendell." Tony and Wolf started off into the forest behind the castle, following the trail.   
  
It was a long while before either of them said anything. Wolf was still somewhat upset about what he thought was his fault that morning. Tony had figured on that and tried to lighten up the mood.   
  
"You know, we really haven't talked much since you and Virginia got back from New York. That was, what a week and a half ago? I thought you two decided to stay there."  
  
"No, Virginia and I both wanted to come back. I grew up here, know my way around pretty well, and Virginia wanted to return because you're here. Plus, I think she likes it better here anyway. But don't tell her I said that."  
  
"Really, you could've fooled me. After all that with getting the mirror, and wanting desperately to go home, she decides not to stay after all."  
  
"Yeah." He nodded  
  
"Well, I've been meaning to talk to you about something else too."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Virginia told me the news a few days ago. On how you really meant that whole, 'Grandpa' thing."  
  
Wolf's eyes grew wide and he slowly turned his head toward Tony, expecting to be hit. "And?" He asked cautiously.  
  
"And ... after it took me a couple of hours, I really thought about it, and I know you two really love eachother." Tony said with a small grin. Wolf sighed in relief. Then Tony added as he pointed a finger at Wolf, "But, you two are getting married soon, I don't want you both waiting until after the baby comes."  
  
Wolf nodded understandingly. Tony dropped his gaze and finger and looked ahead at the trail. "Do you think it'll have a tail?" Tony asked suddenly.   
  
"Maybe, well, most likely."  
  
"I bet that's another reason you both decided to come back, huh?"  
  
"Yeah, New York's not really the place to raise a cub, but if we would've stayed there longer, she'd still be safe. This is all my fault." Wolf lowered his head as the horse trotted along the path.  
  
"Wolf, this is not your fault, all right? Stop blaming yourself, it's getting use no where! Besides, we're going to get those crystals, find out where she is, and get her. We've been in worst situations."   
  
"That was different back then."  
  
"Back then? It was less than a month ago!"  
  
"Well, it was different then. Everything was different"  
  
"What was really that much a difference? Wasn't she was kidnapped then too? At least this time, there isn't some deranged lunatic Huntsman that's following us."  
  
"Yeah, but we also knew what forest she was in, who had taken her, and that was before she got pregnant."  
  
"Yeah, I agree, but you need to loose this guilt. Virginia wouldn't have of it, you know that, don't you?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess your right. You're going to be a good grandpa!" Wolf smiled, Tony couldn't help but sigh. "Look, there's the fork!" Wolf pointed and kicked his horse to go faster.Tony followed Wolf at a slower pace. By the time Tony caught up to Wolf, he was already starting to head left. He kicked the horse to go faster and finally was side by side to Wolf.   
  
"How long until we reach Kissingtown?"  
  
"Probably another three to four hours."  
  
"That long?" Tony asked as he gazed down the road.  
  
"You're right, it'll go much faster if we run it!" Wolf kicked the horse hard and with a neigh, it took off running down the path.  
  
"Wolf!" Tony called back and let out a grunt as he kicked the horse he was riding as well. Within a few moments, he was side by side to Wolf again who was holding on to the mane of his horse, trying to make it go faster.  
  
For what seemed hours, but was only minutes, they raced on through the forest. When a good fifteen minutes had passed, Tony decided to stop.  
  
"Wolf!" He yelled over the wind slapping his face and the thud of the horse's hooves. "Stop!"  
  
They both pulled back on the reins and stopped in the middle of the path  
  
"What is it Tony?" Wolf asked, irritated.  
  
"Let's give the horses a break, huh? They can't run the whole way."  
  
"Of course they can, they aren't normal horses like what you have in New York, these can run for some hours. See, they aren't even panting." Tony looked at his horse, and then Wolf's, realizing his words were true. "Now come on, the more time we waste, the less time we have to find those crystals!" He gave the horse a whap of the reins and it started to gallop again. Tony let out a sigh and did the same. Kissingtown and Virginia were coming closer every moment.  
  



	3. The Search

Part 3  
  
Wolf smiled as he read the sign that whizzed by as he raced along through the forest. Only a few more miles until Kissingtown. The horses were starting to show signs of fatigue, but kept their strong pace. Wolf looked ahead and he could faintly make out the welcome sign of Kissingtown, his smile grew larger.   
  
Wolf turned back his head slightly to see Tony, who was smiling himself. They entered town and placed the horses in the stable to let them rest. They were very happy to oblige. Hopefully though, they would be leaving soon.   
  
"Okay, now what?" Tony asked as they walked the main street of Kissingtown. The sun was beginning to set and the air was becoming cooler. Happy couples pasted them, kissing and hugging, whispering things into each other's ears. It made each of their hearts ache, but they didn't say a word, just exchanged knowing saddened glances.   
  
"Well, we need to find the crystal," Wolf said, breaking the silence. "I guess we'll find each one in a different location. According to the mirror, that is." Wolf said, scratching his temple slightly.  
  
"This town is huge, where are we supposed to find it?" Tony complained as he glanced around.  
  
"I don't know, what if we asked the mirror?" Wolf suggested as he pointed to Tony's sack that was slung over his shoulder. Tony shook his head.  
  
"No good, it said it'll only help us again once we need the next clue, remember?"  
  
"Oh yeah, well, I guess we'll just have to split up and meet again later. It's the fastest way. "  
  
"Ok, then, check everywhere you know and let's meet back here, in ... let's say, two hours?" Wolf nodded and started off, heading north on the street. Tony headed the opposite way and walked into the auction hall, they always had so much junk, maybe something would stick out.   
  
He entered the hall, people we buzzing about, getting ready for the next auction that was about to take place. Tony went up a small flight of stairs and sifted through a pile of dusty pieces. As he was ready to give up, an old man approached him.  
  
"Could I be of some service, sir?" He asked, tapping Tony on the shoulder.  
  
"Well, I'm looking for a crystal, possibly red."  
  
"I don't believe we have anything like that, we mostly have items of silver and gold. Perhaps you can look in that room," He pointed to a rear room near the back of the hall. "It's where we keep newer arrivals. We haven't priced anything yet, but your welcome to look."   
  
"Uhhh, thanks." Tony flashed a smile and headed to the back room.  
  
  
Wolf headed far down the street before he decided to go into the Lucky-In-Love casino. As he walked around the casino, his heart throbbed at the memories that Kissingtown held with he and Virginia within it. Their first sweet, beautiful, kiss ... and the agonizing memory of her heartbreaking rejection. Wolf pushed passed that and tried to focus on the matter at hand. That was before, this is now.   
  
"Wolf, concentrate, as soon as you find these crystals and get her back the sooner you can come back here with her." He smiled at the thought and wondered on through the casino. As he walked on through, something caught his eye on the floor. A gold Wendell! Well, it couldn't hurt just to make a small bet, could it? Wolf picked it up and looked for the nearest table.   
  
"Wouldn't you know it?" He muttered to himself as he turned and looked up at the Jackrabbit Jackpot that was right in front of him. He placed it on the table. "Maybe I'll get lucky again." He shrugged. The wheel spun and missed the rabbit by a few pegs. "Figures, when I want to win, I don't."   
  
He walked away and through the rest of the casino, with no luck. More and more people started to flood the casino, making it become hot and stuffy. Realizing this, Wolf decided to head out and get some fresh air, too many people made him feel closed in and trapped. He needed to clear his head.  
  
  
Tony was having no luck in the back room of the auction hall. The next piece up for bid was creating quiet a stir in the next room, people we going nuts over it. Tony though he had heard a lady call out 100,000 gold Wendell's, but agreed that it was just his imagination, no one in their right mind would want to bid so much for a piece of junk.  
  
Giving up, Tony decided to leave. There was nothing there remotely close to what they were looking for. He scoffed as he walked by a rack of mirrors, it seemed every time he ended up in Kissingtown, what he needed was never easy to get. An hour was almost already up, and the sun was well gone. He left the hall and headed back down the streets. The stars were out and he could hear the faint chirping of crickets. A few young lovers passed him as they held each other close, sneaking kisses and giggling as they made silly jokes.  
  
For once, Tony was jealous of everything that everyone else had. What Virginia and Wolf had. What he didn't. The magic love town made people express their emotions more openly and discover how they felt. For Tony, it made him remember what he had lost, and what he was missing. He sighed and sat down on a bench against a wall to rest for a few minutes. He chuckled slightly to himself.  
  
"Now's when I could really use Prince to talk to again." He knew that he wasn't a prince anymore, but he still liked calling him that. Whenever Tony heard or said the name, 'Prince', he was always just reminded of a young boy, heir to wealth and power. It made Tony feel superior, even if it wasn't the truth. But when he heard the name, "King', all his self esteem went down and he felt low and common, even if it was to his friend Wendell. He sighed and looked down the street. "I know exactly what I need." Tony got up and walked to the local tavern.  
  
He entered and remembered the last time he had been in there with Wendell. The bar was more crowded than he remembered it to be the last time, but took short notice of it. He sat down at the bar and hailed the bartender over.   
  
"Yes, sir?"  
  
"Uhhh, let's see, I didn't try 'Cupid's First Blush' the last time, I'll have that. I need it." The bartender nodded and served one up. It didn't take him long to finish off the drink, but he knew he couldn't waste time by getting drunk now, no matter how much he wanted to.   
  
He paid the bartender and left. He walked down the streets alone again, and found himself looking up at the stars. He tilted his head further back as far as he could. His gaze met with the moon, and his let out a shaky sigh.   
  
"Great, just what I need." He said softly. The moon wasn't full quiet yet, but it was awfully close. Perhaps only another night or two. Tony felt a chill run up his spine as he recalled the memories with Wolf the last time his cycle came around. How was he supposed to handle him without Virginia? Virginia! He broke himself out of his trance, remembering why he was there, and continued walking on through the emptying streets.   
  
  
Wolf exited the casino and found himself on the balcony he and Virginia had been on the last time they were there. He sighed as he thought of that and rests his arms on the railing and leaned on them. He looked out at the sky and let out a small whine.  
  
"Oh, Virginia, where are you?" He whined. "I'll never stop looking for you. Never. I don't care how long it takes me, I will find you, even if it kills me." He lowered his head and shut his eyes tightly, thinking about her. After a few moments, he reopened them and stared back out into the sky. He let out another whine, as he gazed at the moon. He looked at it, unbelievingly, how could he have forgotten? It was close, too close. He had no time to prepare and they didn't have much to waste. His mate was counting on him, and the damn moon was going to cause him to be slowed down. Wolf howled painfully at the growing moon and left the balcony, time to find Tony, maybe he had better luck.  



	4. The Red Crystal

Part 4  
  
Wolf left the casino with one last glance around. Satisfied the crystal wasn't there, he walked back down the street and picked up Tony's scent. The cool night air swept through the streets and filled the allies. Wolf put his hands in his pockets to keep them warm and continued on as he lowered his head in his coat to keep warm. The shops and restaurants were closed and the lights were all out in the homes and hotels.  
  
It was getting late. Wolf figured it to be almost midnight, he truly had lost track of time, but that's how casino's are built, to distort the customers of time. He looked around cautiously, making sure no one was following him. Cripes, that's all he needed. Once again he caught Tony's scent and followed it, strangely it led into a tower near the center of the square. It looked so familiar, and on the way inside, he caught a whiff of an old smell, but it was hard to recognize.   
  
With his gut filled with mixed emotions, Wolf followed Tony's scent and headed up the tower. As he walked up the stairs, he passed piles of junk and worthless trash, wondering how long it must've been since someone last cleaned it out. He went up as far as the stairs led him and then pushed open the small door blocking his way. Tony jumped at the sudden movement, letting out a small yelp.  
  
"Wolf? Oh, you scared me for a moment. Too many memories up here." Tony muttered as he began to relax again. He watched Wolf enter the room and then turned his attention back out the window.   
  
"No luck with you either, huh?" Wolf said as he sat down next to Tony.  
  
"Well ... sorta." Tony replied as an uncertain expression flew across his face.  
  
"What do you mean 'sorta', Tone?" Wolf asked as he scratched his temple nervously.  
  
"Well, I came up here to look for the crystal, and when I gave up, I sat here, and I looked out the window, and saw ... that." Tony pointed out through the window and over to another tower.  
  
"So, what's so special about that?" Wolf passed it off as a regular building and turned back to Tony.  
  
"Look closely at the top."   
  
"But I don't see ... oh cripes! Is it?"  
  
"Yeah, from what I can tell, anyway." On the very top of another tower across the plaza, there was a beautiful red crystal sticking up towards the sky, shining in the moon light. It was topping off the peak of the roof, almost mocking them. Almost as if it were daring them to come and get it. Almost impossible. There was no way to get it, besides climbing onto the ledge from the window, and making your way up the steep shingles.   
  
"Ohhh, how are we going to get that!?" Wolf asked hysterically as he paced the small room, scratching his temple furiously.  
  
"Only one way. Climb it." Tony declared as he grabbed his sack and made his way out of the room. Wolf followed after giving the crystal a low angry growl.  
  
They made their way swiftly across the square and with ease, they made it to the top of the opposing tower. Tony opened the window and leaned out and over to see the crystal.  
  
"Wow, that's a lot steeper than it looked from over there." Tony said with awe. He put his sack and coat down on a nearby chair and went back over to the window.   
  
"All right, move." Wolf headed to the window, and made a motion to push Tony out of the way.  
  
"What do you think you are doing?" Tony asked, blocking the way with his arms extended, firmly placed on both sides of the window edge.  
  
"Getting the crystal." Wolf said impatiently. Why would Tony want to slow down their progress? Did he want to sit down and talk about it? Huff puff! There wasn't time for it! For any of it! No siree! He had to get it, and he had to do it now. "Move, we don't have time to argue. I can do it."  
  
"No, Wolf, I'll do it. I can't put you at risk." Tony looked up again at the roof, doing best to ignore Wolf's whining.  
  
"What!? Put me at risk of what!?" He growled.  
  
"Of falling to your death and leaving my daughter and grandchild alone. Do you want that! I wouldn't forgive myself if it did happen! Neither would Virginia. It's settled, Wolf, I'll do it!" Tony declared and stuck his foot out the window, trying to balance himself carefully.   
  
Wolf was hesitant. Tony had a very good point. Cripes, he couldn't leave his mate and child alone without him. He had to be there for them, he wanted to. He could step aside, and let Tony risk his life for a damn crystal, but, he had to do all he could to save them. It was in his instincts to whatever possible to save his family. He surveyed the scene and putting Tony in charge at the moment didn't seem too logical.   
  
"Tony wait." Wolf said calmly. Tony paused and brought his foot back in.  
  
"What is it, Wolf?" Tony asked, obviously irritated.  
  
"Please, I can do this. Let me, I have to." He said in a low and still demanding voice, daring Tony to object.   
  
Tony paused again, and studied Wolf's expression. He was serious. But what would he tell Virginia if something did happen? How could he cope if something did happen to Wolf? Tony paused and looked deeply into Wolf's eyes. This was it! Tony thought, this was what Wolf needed to do to lose his depression. If he got that crystal, he'd realize that he's doing everything he can to get her back, and it wasn't all his fault. He needed to do this, to vent out all his guilt.   
  
"All right." Tony said finally, then pointed his finger again at Wolf. "But if something happens to you out there and you can't be there for Virginia, I'll kill you."   
  
Wolf tried to be serious, but let out a small chuckle and patted Tony on the back. "I'll always be there for her." He added solemnly and then headed for the window again. This time, Tony stepped aside and allowed Wolf to pass. Wolf meditated the angle and the drop of the roof and ... just how hard it would hurt to fall. He had to forget that for now, not to think about the agonizing moment his feet could fail him and slip. There was only one way to do this, straight up and defiantly not to look down.   
  
He swallowed hard and gripped the sides of the window. With effort, he steadied his shaking knees and took a deep breath as he gave the ground a quick glance. For a moment, his vision was blurred and he was tempted to run back inside the room. Wolves were not meant to be climbers, that's why they were wolves, not squirrels. He sighed and left the safe window ledge, out onto the roof, keeping a mental picture of Virginia in his head to keep his mind off the distant ground below. He looked up at the crystal and smiled slightly to himself, knowing he was doing everything he could, for her.   
  



	5. The Climb

Part 5  
  
Wolf started up the slope of the roof, doing his best to calm himself. The crystal couldn't have been more than ten feet away, and still felt like it more around a hundred. His heart was pounding in his chest as he tightened his grip on the shingle he was leaning on. In his mind, he was screaming, 'Just jump for it, grab it! Stop wasting so much time!' But his feet wouldn't budge.  
  
Tony watched Wolf helplessly from behind, not daring to say a word that might throw Wolf's concentration off, causing him to back step and slip. He stared after Wolf, silently mumbling 'Go go go, get it, you can do it!' He persuaded himself to calm down and maybe Wolf would pick up on that as well.   
  
Wolf shifted his weight, and made another move upwards. He was nearly going up the roof on his stomach, and he didn't like that feeling too much. Once again, he made another move upward, this time, it was just a little bit easier. He was starting to get the feel for it, and it was becoming easier since he calmed himself down. He sighed steadily, and moved his leg up a few more shingles, then pushed.  
  
He shifted his weight to his right foot as he released the left and move it up as well. For what seemed to travel on as hours, Wolf slowly and carefully climbed the roof of the mountainous tower. Finally, he was only a few more feet away. His heart began to speed up once more, but this time, not in fear, but in joy.   
  
He rested his left hand on a roof tile and as soon as he was sure he could lose the grip from the right without falling, he moved it. He reached out for the crystal. The red gem sparkled into the starlight, causing a beam of scarlet to travel down onto Wolf's sweaty face.   
  
With another push from his feet, he gripped the crystal and gently took it from it's hold on the tower. He smiled as he held the crystal tightly in his hand. A step close to Virginia, to his mate, his one true love. He unconsciously put the red gem into his coat pocket. With his head in the clouds, his concentration skipped and his footing began to become uneven. He fell and with a thud, landed onto his stomach, and began to slide down the side of the roof.  
  
As he slid down, he began to pick up pace. Without footholds or ledges to grab, he was unstoppable. He couldn't think. His fingers dug into the roof, desperately trying to stop or slow down. As his hands grabbed the edges of the tiles, he felt a sharp pain coursing through his hand. That was soon forgotten though as he tried anything to stop himself from plummeting off the tower.  
  
Then, before he knew it, the roof disappeared from under him and instead of sliding down a roof, he was free falling. 'Oh cripes! This is it!' He thought to himself as he tried to grab the edge of the tower, but failed.  
  
It all seemed to go in slow motion. Nothing seemed to happen at all. It was true what they say, his life began to flash before his eyes. He saw his happy days as a cub, playing in the fields with his siblings. Then, the horrible night where he lost his parents, and the events leading to his prison time. Prison. Such a terrible word. Such a terrible place.   
  
Finally, his memories filled with Virginia and all they had gone through. 'I think I love you.' rang blissfully in his ears, as he recalled her hand softly caressing his chin. This was it. He would never see her again. There was no way to live through this. All had happened in a matter of seconds, and Wolf could almost taste the pavement.  
  
Just as his hand lost the end of the ledge, he was stopped. He looked up desperately and saw Tony straining to hold onto Wolf's jacket. The sweat began to pour and his face turned red from the stress, but he didn't let go. The fabric of his coat began to tear from the weight, making Tony work even faster.  
  
"Hang on Wolf!" Tony yelled through clenched teeth. Wolf grabbed the side of the tower and with Tony pulling on him, he did his best to climb up. As soon as the window ledge was in reach, Wolf grabbed it and pulled himself in.  
  
Tony grabbed the back of Wolf's coat and helped him through the window. They both sat there a moment, desperately trying to regain their composure and breath. As soon as Wolf did, he smiled thankfully at Tony.  
  
"Thanks for saving my bacon!" Wolf shouted appreciatively and gave Tony a huge hug.  
  
"All right, all right, enough of that. Are you ok?" Tony asked, wiping the sweat off his brow.  
  
"Yeah, except I cut myself on the way down the roof." He showed Tony a slash along his hand from his pinkie finger down to his wrist. Tony turned away in revulsion, he hated the sight of blood. Wolf checked the wound, nothing too bad, might leave a tiny scar, but not much to worry about.  
  
They sat there for another moment. Tony watched him clean his wound with a piece of cloth that he ripped off from the inside of his shirt. Suddenly Wolf's head shot up and he beamed a bright smile at Tony. "What?" He asked. Wolf dug into his pocket and brought out the crystal. "We've got it Tone, the first crystal!"   
  



	6. A Horse Story

Part 6  
  
Wolf and Tony walked through Kissingtown in the dead of night. The streets were empty and the only sound was that of the rustling of nearby trees in the summer wind. Tony walked on, and suppressed a yawn. The last thing he needed to do was sleep and waste even more time. Virginia was counting on them, how could he curl up in a soft bed, when she could be out there starving or freezing to death? No, he had to continue on, even though it was awfully tempting.  
  
Tony glanced over at Wolf, who held more of an unconscious look than that of his normal self. He looked just as exhausted. It must've been around midnight or so, and their trip to Kissingtown was long and grueling, not to mention the climb he went through. He gave it another thought. They really couldn't go on for a week or more without sleep. He had to say something, but Wolf beat him to it.  
  
"Ok, well, now that we have the first crystal, let's see what the mirror says about the next one." Wolf said anxiously as he faced Tony as they walked.  
  
"Wolf, wait a minute." Tony stopped walking and turned to Wolf who stopped as well. He looked at Tony quizzically, glancing to his pack slung around his shoulder loosely.  
  
"What Tone?"  
  
"We can't go on without sleep, why don't we find someplace to rest for the night, and we'll continue on in the morning?" Tony watched Wolf as his expression changed to one of shear determination and incredibility. Wolf would protest, he knew it, so he decided to pour more on. "I'm beat, and I know you have to be too. It'll do us no good to go on like this."  
  
No use, Wolf still protested profusely. "Tony! How can you say that!? Virginia's counting on us, and you want to sleep!? We'll loose time! Every moment that we waste, she could be drifting further away or maybe even worse!" Wolf couldn't believe Tony. His own daughter's life was resting in their hands, and what did he want to do? Sleep! Huff puff! What was wrong with him!?  
  
"Wolf, I know your concerned for Virginia, I am too. But we're no good to her if we fall asleep on the horses and fall off." He said with great emphasis, moving his hands to make his point clear. "We could get hurt, that'll delay us even longer. Let's just get a couple of hours, then we'll start out, first thing in the morning." He started back down the street, then turned back to Wolf who was thinking. He could tell he was really considering it, but he had to, Wolf had to understand he was right.  
  
"First thing?" Wolf finally spoke as he looked to Tony.  
  
"First thing. We'll head out, bright and early."  
  
Wolf meditated that idea for a moment. As much as he was opposed and wanted to continue their journey, he couldn't fight sleep for weeks. It wasn't possible, even for a wolf. Finally, he gave up and nodded. They walked on for a few minutes, then chose a place to stay for the night.   
  
Tony kept to his word, after they found a small inn, they awoke early with the rising sun. Even though it did take Wolf several tries to get him out of bed, they finally made it and went for their horses. They headed to the stables, and prepared them for another trip through the forest. If Wolf hadn't been so worried for Virginia, he might have enjoyed it.  
  
It was a beautiful crisp morning. The sun was beaming down like spotlights, as they struck the surface of the ground, making amberish circles on its surface. The sunbeams slanted down through the trees that covered the outer edge of the town where the stables were. A soft breeze blanketed the area and the temperature was just right for the day. There was not one cloud in the sky and no threat of any sudden storm. They took off, and headed the opposite way that they came, to the North.   
  
"So, what's the deal with these horses?" Tony asked abruptly after a few minutes of riding, obviously wanting to strike up a conversation. He didn't like it when Wolf was uncharacteristically quiet.  
  
Wolf paused for a moment, taking off guard by the question, then spoke. "Well, these horses are made to be the best they can be. Many kings have these horses especially trained so that they can ride for days without becoming weak or tired. They're very handy in times of war when kings need to send a letter that must be received that same day."  
  
"How do they do it?"  
  
"Get them to go so fast? Well, the trainers work them very hard when they're very young. Making them run and go days without stopping for more than five minutes. Eventually generations adapted to this lifestyle and have very little trouble running grand distances." Wolf explained then patted his horse appreciatively.  
  
"How much are they worth?" Tony asked, showing his normal cheapness.  
  
"A lot. Way more than a lot, actually. There aren't many left throughout the Nine Kingdoms and it's getting harder and harder to train them."  
  
"Why's that?"  
  
"Well, the only ones that could train them so brutally to prepare them for long journeys, were Trolls."  
  
"Trolls!?"  
  
"Yes," He said almost reluctantly. "They were perfect actually." He sighed, then continued. "They forced the horses to run longer and faster, making them eventually become stronger, even though many died trying." Wolf growled audibly. Trolls were horrible to everything and everyone. They were the ones that took his Virginia away from him, he'd never forget that. There was not one single good thing about a Troll, no siree! He paused and then added angrily, "Because they have no conscience or decency in their insignificant heads, they felt no remorse for anything they did to the horses."  
  
Tony sensed the harshness in his voice, and was too reminded of just who had taken Virginia in the first place. "Why is it getting harder? You would think that if these horses are so valuable, Trolls would have thousands of them."  
  
"True, but Trolls have very little patience and training these horses takes much of it. Hundreds of years ago when this breed of horse was beginning to raise, Trolls were dying to get their hands on them, literally. As always though, Trolls aren't impressed or intrigued with much for long and soon the idea became boring to them. It's very difficult to train them and that's why only a few humans and some fairies are actually capable of doing it. Eventually, there won't be any more left." Wolf added quietly. Tony first thought it might be so that their horses wouldn't hear it, but that was ridiculous. Instead, he decided that Wolf was thinking again of Virginia and what had happened to her, because of Trolls. Time to change the subject.  
  
Tony pulled his horse's reins, causing the trot to cease. Wolf looked back confused, then he stopped as Tony opened his sack and dug around in it for a moment. He checked his surroundings, then was reassured by a nod from Wolf.   
  
Tony dug the mirror out from the bottom of his brown bag and revealed it to them. Wolf brought out the red crystal from his pocket and handed it to Tony. "Ok," Tony sighed. "Let's see where this thing leads us to next."   
  



	7. Curse of the Moon

Part 7  
  
Wolf checked the area once more, then turned to Tony. "Ok. It's all clear." He affirmed.  
  
"Wolf, remind me again why we had to wait until we were all they way out here to ask the mirror. Last night, all you wanted to do in Kissingtown was ask it."  
  
"We were alone, nobody was outside then." He watched as Tony expression still remained foggy and continued. "We don't know who took Virginia. Who ever did, could have spies following us. We don't want them to know we're coming closer, or that we have a crystal of Amorex."  
  
Tony sighed. "Good point. Ok, so, now what do we ask it?"  
  
Wolf thought a moment as he stared at the mirror in Tony's hands. "All right, give it to me." Wolf spoke and turned his horse back, so that both horses were side by side. "Mirror, we have the first crystal, where is the second?" He asked simply, he wasn't going to waste time trying to think of a rhyme when it wasn't necessary.  
  
The cascading swirls began to take motion, almost reluctantly. If Tony hadn't know better, they were waking it from a deep sleep. The small mirror came to life once again after the wavy quicksilver effect slowed down to a moderate rhythm. Tony and Wolf watched in awe, waiting for a response. After a few moments, it finally answered.  
  
"Yellow crystal two is far from here, in a village that you, Wolf shall fear. Two old men you meet along the way, to hear their words, a hard price you pay. This crystal comes to you very soon, but you will be slowed by the full moon." It told them, then with a sparkle, once more was still. Wolf swallowed audibly and slowly handed the mirror to Tony.  
  
"Cripes." He said quietly, his eyes were wide and his hands began to slightly tremble. This was going to be horrible, especially without his mate. He wanted to tell Tony about it, when the time was right, too late now.  
  
"Wolf? Is it going to be bad?" Tony asked warily, noticing Wolf's expression and empty gaze. He remembered what happened last time, and he didn't need that again.  
  
Wolf turned to Tony and gave him a worried glance, but then flashed a hopeful smile. "I guess we'll find out ... unfortunately."  
  
After another moment of recalling what had happened last time, Tony shook it off and snapped the leather reins on his horse, and began to trot down the path. The trees filled the forest, and bent slightly inward, creating a green ceiling over the ground. Wolf followed Tony's lead down the trail, trying his best to shake off the thoughts of the full moon.  
  
After an hour of riding, Wolf glanced around cautiously, then ahead at Tony. This was horrible. Tonight. Tonight was the night. He could feel it. As the Evil Queen had made it so perfectly clear before, his blood was beginning to run hot and he could feel a slight sweat breaking out on the back of his neck, despite the cool wind blowing on him. He quickly rubbed it away, and rolled up his sleeves.   
  
The brisk motion of pulling his shirt sleeves up, bothered his hand injury. He winced as the pain reminded him of what was there, but soon subsided. He turned his hand over, and inspected the wound after carefully taking off his blood soaked shirt piece. The night before it hadn't looked as bad as it did then.  
  
The long slash still remained, but it didn't show signs of healing. A bruise formed around his long cut and had turned that side of his hand a dense purple and blue. He gently touched the cut out of curiosity, and received a painful, hot reaction in return. Why was it like this? Why was it refusing to heal? Then it dawned on him. The moon! The damn moon was causing his healing process to be slowed down.  
  
Once again, he was reminded of it, even though it hadn't fully left his mind. This was absolutely incredible. His mate was out there somewhere, needing his help, and what was happening? That stupid orb was going to create a wall, maybe even a permanent barrier between him and Virginia. If he got slowed down now, who knows how long it would finally take them to reach her. This was so ridiculous! It was almost as if he was destined to live this ironic twist of fate.  
  
It was still early morning, he wouldn't go 'wolf' completely until dusk. They could still get a lot done that day, there was still time to get far, and closer to her. He nodded, and told himself repetitively to look on the bright side of all of it. Perhaps he could block it all out if he tried hard enough. Yeah right, who was he kidding? There was no way to do that. He had tried so many times in prison, without any such luck.   
  
Though, he had to try. With the possible life of his mate in his and Tony's hands, he knew he would die if he was the reason that caused them to lose her. He checked his wound one more, and torn off a new, clean piece of his shirt, which was now rather tattered and dingy. He tied the knot tightly, but very gently.   
  
He kicked the horse to speed up a little, so that he could catch up with Tony. He looked up at the sky forlornly, the faster the day went, the slower the night would be. With the full moon, one night, felt like a week. Not to mention the day after, almost making him feel hung over, but with a rather large appetite and no self control. Who knew what he would be capable of tonight! The idea even scared him. The moon was a lurid curse to him, one that could be the difference, between life and death for Virginia.   



	8. A Price to be Paid

Part 8  
  
Tony too was caught in his thoughts as he rode ahead of Wolf. How could he handle him with the full moon? He remembered everything that had happened last time. He recalled how awful he had looked, the snappy attitude and of course, the mood swings. BR  
  
He was somewhat startled by his drastic change, especially when he yelled at Virginia all those times. He was aware of his feelings for his daughter at the time, and unwavering devotion, but if he would snap at HER, than what was stopping Wolf from going after Tony? He didn't feel too comfortable, not at all.   
  
Tony's mental discussion between himself, was interrupted as Wolf appeared next to him after finally catching up. Looking at him, he could tell that he had been thinking too, probably about the same things. They rode for another fifteen minutes without saying anything, but as a pair of figures in the distance appeared, they slowed their pace down.  
  
Wolf checked the air several times to make sure there was no threat, as his senses affirmed that, Tony and him heard the two calling out to them. Tony and Wolf looked at each other questionably, then shrugged.   
  
Two old men, dressed in light rags were walking down the forest path towards them, waving their hands to stop. They wore brown pants and cloaks with their hoods down, resting on their backs, revealing their white hair and rounded balding spots.   
  
Wolf and Tony dismounted their horses as they came closer and walked the rest of the way to them. "Can we ... uh ... help you?" Tony asked warily, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer.  
  
The older one spoke as he approached Tony. "Oh, kind sirs, we are but humble foresters. We're weak and hungry. Spare us food? We have such a long way to go, and little time to do it. We have no food and without the energy, we are slowing down. Please, might we have some food?"  
  
The poor men were practically begging. The mention of food snapped something in Wolf's head. With the moon fast approaching, he suddenly noticed the gnawing pain in his side as a low growl escaped his stomach. He let out an exasperated sigh and scratched his temple, showing clearly he was very irritated. Why was this taking so long? He thought to himself as he began to pace. He felt his patience wearing thin, he was nearly to the point of thrashing out at all of them, but restrained himself.  
  
Tony sighed and patted his pockets to prove his point that they had nothing as he shook his head. "Sorry, we don't have anything." Tony informed them and turned to Wolf. He stared back for a moment, and then Tony could see something click in Wolf's mind. He came up to Tony and leaned into his ear.  
  
"Tony," He whispered. "Ask them where the next town is. The mirror, remember? Two old men..." Tony understood, and turned back to them.  
  
"Umm, would you happen to know where the next town is?" Tony asked casually, trying to avoid actually giving them something. He was sorry for them, but they needed all they had for themselves.  
  
"Yes, we do." The other man spoke for the first time. His voice was not as weak or pitiful as the other, but seemed to be more sly and had a deeper bravado.   
  
"Really? Where is it and how far?"  
  
"Oh, we'll tell you." He paused, then looked to his side. "For your horses, that is." The man smiled, exposing his long, sharp teeth. Tony stared at him, narrowing his eyes into an unbelieving gaze.  
  
"I don't believe you people! This is getting ridiculous!" Tony shouted out, throwing his arms into the air. He then was the one that began to pace back and forth, muttering choice curses under his breath. Wolf was beginning to get agitated by his movements and stopped him abruptly by grabbing his coat.   
  
"Tony, let's just do it. It won't take us too long to reach the town, I think. Besides, where ever it is, they're bound to have horses we can borrow." He roughly let go of Tony's jacket and scratched his temple. Tony noticed a sweat breaking out on Wolf's forehead, and it was only the morning. He watched his movements for another moment and realized the day was slowly wearing on and they didn't have much time.   
  
"All right, where is it?" He took their belongings off the saddles and handed the reins to them after giving his horse an affectionate pat.   
  
The men admired the horses for a moment then answered. "Well, you head down the road and when you reach the crossroad, head left and you'll see the town within fifteen minutes. Thank you very much for the horses." The older man spoke again and with some effort made it onto the horse. After steadying themselves, they took off down the road in the direction Tony and Wolf came from.   
  
Both looked at each other and turned back toward the road they first were heading down. They walked along the rocky path, just now realizing how ruff and rocky it was. As the old man had said, they finally reached a fork in the road, and headed left, following their directions.  
  
When they had traveled about ten minutes down the new path, they saw a few houses up ahead that branched off into a small town. Tony and Wolf quickened their pace and were soon in the town.   
  
People were about their daily activities and working in their tiny shops spread across the small town. The population couldn't have been more than thirty, and yet the streets were crowded. The town lay nestled in a small clearing in the middle of the forest, Wolf sighed happily, this wasn't farming land.   
  
A young lady approached them wearing a bright smile. She couldn't have been older than eighteen. At least she wasn't a shepherdess, Wolf thought contentedly. She was dressed in a light purple skirt and top. She had white sandals on and carried a basket filled with yellow and white daisies. "How may I be of service to you?" She asked happily, noticing they both had just entered the town.  
  
"Uhh, well, we are looking for something." Tony said bluntly. The young woman's expression changed to confused as she turned to Wolf, just noticing he was there.  
  
"Yeah," Wolf agreed, eyeing the new stranger.   
  
She turned to Tony again. "Oh, well, I best be going. My mum's waiting for me." Then returned her gaze to Wolf. "If you need help, you can talk to our mayor, he's in hall." She said slowly, never taking her eye's off Wolf, even when she pointed to the town hall. She smiled to them once more, then headed back off into the heart of town.  
  
"Ok, well, let's start looking for this crystal. One down, two to go." Wolf didn't move for a moment, still watching the girl walking through the streets, even though she was further away. "Wolf?" Tony asked, snapping Wolf out of his trance.   
  
"What?" He snapped. As soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly took them back. He sighed and scratched his temple.  
  
"Are you ready? Let's get going." Wolf's expression went back and Tony watching him, Wolf was onto something, he could tell. But what was it? What did it have to do with that girl? "Wolf, what's going on?" He finally asked  
  
"I don't know Tone, there's something odd about that girl. She knows something."   
  
Tony shook his head and agreed with Wolf, he was right about that. Time to get going, they could worry about the strange girl later. Tony knew he had to be the stronger one that day, take the lead. With the sun wearing on the day and eventually turning into the night, there wasn't much time before the full moon and he'd have to deal with Wolf. Tony sighed and pushed Wolf into town, this was going to be a long night. 


	9. The Prison

Part 9  
  
Virginia slowly lifted her head off the cold pavement and moaned. Everything was so blurry and she had to squint her eyes against the torch blazing outside the small cell she realized she was in. She felt like she had been hit by a train, everything ached and her vision was distorted. She propped herself up, leaning on her right arm and rubbed her head with her left, what a splitting headache! It was all so foggy, what had happened?  
  
For an agonizing moment, she couldn't remember who she was, but everything slowly began to fade back to her. As the realization shot at her, she rubbed her stomach at the memory of being pregnant, everything seemed ok with the baby and she physically didn't seem hurt besides a few scratches. As she checked herself over, she noticed she was covered in Troll dust, which was now ineffective, but she had been hit with quite a heavy dose. She shook her head, trying to clear away the cobwebs and stood up. She nearly lost her balance and fell to the floor, but caught herself in time.   
  
Where was Wolf? Was he hurt? Was he nearby? What had happened to him? What had happened to her? All these questions flooded her mind and made her headache even worse. The main question was, where was she? She drowsily walked up to the bars holding her in, and wrapped her hands around the cold black bars. There was a long corridor winding around to her right and another to her left.   
  
As far as she could see, there were other cells, but none of them were occupied, it was silent. "What is going on here?" Virginia ask quietly to herself. For a moment she thought that it all could be a dream and that she had maybe banged her head on something in the kitchen. Yes! That could be it, she might now just be in bed with Wolf watching over her.   
  
To prove it for herself, she pinched the back of her left hand with her right. No one ever felt pain in a dream. She prayed silently to herself she would feel nothing, but as a sharp pain whizzed up her arm, she realized she wasn't dreaming. Even though she did have some nightmares in her life, nothing was ever like this. No, this wasn't a dream, this was real.   
  
She rubbed her hand as the small red mark from her nail started to disappear. She anxiously looked down each side of the corridor for any signs of life. Someone had to be here! Virginia turned around in her cell. She was given nothing, not a bed, a toilet, anything! Just a small barred window at the top of her cell that she could only see the sky from.  
  
"What is this place?" She mumbled to herself. Turning back to the hall, she noticed the long line of torches filling the passageway, illuminating the way. What was down there? Why was she here? Virginia had to sit down, her headache was far too worse now to be walking around and thinking about all these things. She sighed and leaned up against the wall. Who did this to her and why? What had she done to make someone put her there?   
  
Suddenly, she heard a set of footsteps and faint arguing. She leaned forward to get a better view of the corridor and watched as the voices came closer. Those voices, they seemed so familiar. Finally, it struck her! Trolls! Only Trolls argued like that! Oh no, she thought grimly to herself, this wasn't good.  
  
The talking stopped, but the footsteps still approached her. She felt her heart begin to beat faster, Trolls had no mercy, she knew there was nothing good planned that they had for her. Finally, the appeared from the right side of the hall. They smiled as they saw her sitting against the wall, watching them.   
  
"Do you remember us, girlie?" One Troll said, pressing her hands against the bars of the cell.   
  
"Yes, I do." Virginia answered, nodding her head slightly. How could she possibly forget the Trolls Burly, Blabberwart and Bluebell? The ones that followed Tony, Wolf, and herself for weeks. She told herself to remain calm and not to make them angry, an irrational and angry Troll was a deadly one. She tried to answer with a collected tone, but as much as she tried against it, he voice still shook.   
  
"See, I told you she would!" Burly smacked Blabberwart. "She is a witch you know, they never forget things!"  
  
"Maybe we shouldn't keep her in this cell, she could escape!" Bluebell chimed in.  
  
"Nah," Burly said confidently. "These bars can't be broken even by her!" He took the keys from around his belt and swung them in front of the cell, taunting her. "Besides, even if she does escape from here, there are guards posted all over the place, you know that!"   
  
"Right." Bluebell said sheepishly.  
  
"So, what do we do with her now?" Blabberwart asked, her eyes brightening somewhat.  
  
"Torture?" Bluebell asked hopefully and Blabberwart nodded her head fiercely in agreement.  
  
"No. We can't. Boss said so." Burly reminded them, the others nodded their heads sadly.  
  
"What!? Who are you working for!? Where's Wolf!? Why am I here!?" Virginia finally spoke again. She temporarily forgot what she had told herself about staying calm, but at that point, she didn't care. She yelled so loudly, he aggravation bounced off the empty walls.   
  
Burly remained unemotional towards her and ignored her anger."You'll find out soon enough witch." He smiled at her aggravation then continued. "We'll bring you something to eat later.... maybe." Burly began to walk away and motioned for the others to follow. Within a few moments, they were gone. She rested back against the concrete wall again and sighed. What was going on and where was Wolf?  
  



	10. The Food

Part 10   
  
She wasn't sure just exactly how long she was sitting there, but apparently Virginia had spaced off. When she snapped herself out of her thoughts, the day had been wearing on further. She had spent a few hours since the Troll's last visit, sitting quietly against the cold wall, thinking of what she could've possibly done to make them do this to her.  
  
Her headache had passed and she was feeling better, obviously the side effects to the Troll dust didn't hold on long. Without much effort from her this time, Virginia got up with ease and walked over to the bars. Again she placed her hands on them and rested her forehead on the bar in front of her. She sighed.  
  
This was ridiculous! She hadn't done anything to them! Well, she couldn't say that, but she didn't do anything that would make them want to put her in there. Why just her and not Wolf too? Well, he could be somewhere else there, but why separate them?  
  
Virginia thought about that again. Well, it did make some sense, perhaps they thought that if they were together, escape would be inevitable. But what if he was hurt ... or worse? She didn't know, she was so unsure about everything, that was the problem! She had no idea where Wolf was, why she was there, who was controlling the Trolls, and where she was. It made her feel so helpless and lost, being shut away from everyone, alone in a small cell, she almost wanted to cry.   
  
She fought back her tears, this wasn't the time for it, she had to be strong. What good would it do to her to cry, when she could be planning her escape or figuring out what was going on? She let out a shaky sigh and walked over to the other side of her cell, where the window was. It was too high for her to look straight out of, she could only see up diagonally. The sun was past noon, but that's all she could tell.   
  
Again she began to hear footsteps approaching her. This time though, it was only a single pair, whoever it was, was coming alone. Virginia turned and watched the halls for movement. With the footsteps echoing throughout the corridors, she couldn't tell where the sound what coming from. All she knew was that they were headed for her.   
  
The steps grew louder, and finally Bluebell emerged from the right side. Virginia swallowed, and walked over to the door to watch him approach. For some reason, he didn't scare her as much as his siblings did, maybe it was because of his name or something. He was holding a tray, obviously food. There was just a single plate and cup.   
  
Virginia wasn't sure whether she was going to eat it, but as he brought it closer, it smelled better and better. Finally, he stopped in front of her cell and slipped the tray through a small slot after he opened it with the key. He shoved it through quickly, almost as if he were afraid he was going lose his hand.  
  
"Why am I here?" Virginia asked as Bluebell locked the slot up. She tried to sound calm, but her anger still seeped through her voice.   
  
"Because someone wants you, and we intend to give you to them." He answered simply in his normal rocky voice.   
  
"Who?" She had to ask, it was driving her crazy. Who would want her more than the Trolls?  
  
"I can't tell you. Our boss told us so, you'll find out soon enough."   
  
"Fine." She said through clenched teeth. Why was everyone treating her like a damn child!? She wasn't some kid who could be content with the simple 'soon' or 'maybe' answer. Giving up on that question, she asked another. "Where's Wolf?"  
  
Bluebell grinned evilly, and turned around and left. He whistled to himself and he walked down the corridor.   
  
"Wait! Answer me! Where is he!?" She yelled to him. He seemed oblivious to her question. This was truly making her mad, why wouldn't he answer that question, it was irrelevant, wasn't it? He disappeared around the corner and Virginia could only hear his faint whistling.   
  
She slammed her fist against the bars in frustration, which only resulted in a dense pain. She rubbed her hand and looked over at the food. It smelled divine for something a Troll would make, then again, she figured they had slaves doing this for them.   
  
Virginia picked up the tray and sat down at the other end of the cell, with the food in front of her. What could it hurt to eat some? It did after all, smell so delicious. There was a nice chicken breast, mashed potatoes and some peas. To the side, it looked like she had apple juice or cider, she couldn't tell because the outside of the cup was dark.   
  
For something so simple, it sure was making her mouth water. She wasn't sure whether or not to eat it, but she was starving, and she had to think of her baby. She shoved all her doubts aside and grabbed her small fork and dug into the chicken.   
  
Within a few minutes, the whole plate was clean. She swallowed every last morsel on her plate, and it was very scrumptious, despite her first thoughts. She finished off the last of, what she found out to be apple juice, and slid the tray back over to the slot where Bluebell had first pushed it through.   
  
Virginia leaned against the wall again and felt a heavy weight being put on her eyelids. She was growing steadily tired, and as much as she fought it, she started drifting off into sleep. As she began to doze off, she realized suddenly, she had been drugged.  
  



	11. Three Idiots

Part 11  
  
Not very far from Virginia's new cell, the Trolls were relaxing around a table, enjoying a large dinner. Blabberwart was helping herself to a rather large turkey leg, Bluebell was gulping down an oversized cup of red wine, and Burly was feasting on a plate of ribs. The trio ate very loudly and sloppily, oblivious to a new presence in the room.  
  
"I send you to bring something to me, and this is what you spend your time doing?" A voice sounded from the doorway.  
  
"Boss!" Burly and Blabberwart shouted in surprise. The quickly dropped their food and stood up as straight as they could. Bluebell sank back in his chair, somewhat ashamed of himself and afraid of a potential beating. The days of his father still haunted him sometimes.  
  
"Where is she?" She asked them. She glanced around the dismal eating room, somewhat disgusted.   
  
"In a cell, down the hall." Burly informed her roughly, walking closer to the doorway.  
  
"Was she alone when you caught her?"  
  
"No. She was with that wolf" Blabberwart said, wiping the remains of the chicken from her mouth.   
  
"What did you do to him?" She asked quickly, snapping her head to Blabberwart, expecting an immediate response.  
  
"Knocked him out and took the girl." Blabberwart said simply. Was there something else they were supposed to do?   
  
"That's it!?" Her voice shouted. She rubbed her face with her hands, obviously in aggravation, and exhaled slowly. Why did she hire Trolls? //If they didn't have that Troll Dust...// she thought grimly. The trio nodded their heads, affirming the accusation. They didn't understand what was so wrong about that. The mission was just to grab the witch and bring her there.   
  
"Don't you idiots understand!? He's a wolf, he'll find her and he won't stop until he does!" She could feel her face become red with anger and rage. She had to fight the extreme temptation to slapping all of them. Didn't they understand the risks? Those three idiots had just cost them much of their safety. She knew the potential of a wolf when their mate would be taken away, there was no reason or understanding, no, they want revenge.   
  
"We covered our tracks too well," Burly began, dismissing the worry with a disbelieving hand wave. "We grabbed the witch and ran to some horses in the forest, then took off."  
  
She ignored the 'witch' accusation. Whatever that meant, she didn't want to worry about it, it wasn't important. Whatever they thought of her, who was she to correct them? She continued with her previous thought. "He could follow that!"  
  
"Nah, he was out too long to follow the scent. Even a wolf wouldn't be able to after that long. Besides, our horses are too fast to leave that much of a scent behind."  
  
There was a moment of silence. Their boss quietly pondered this information and then spoke again. "Take me to see her."   
  
"All right. We moved her earlier today to a different cell. Put a little bit of Troll Dust into her food." Burly said proudly, grinning.  
  
"Why did you do that?" She asked, quite confused.  
  
"It's a more secure cell. Impossible for a witch to escape."   
  
"No, why did you put Troll Dust into her food, when you could just shoot her with it?"  
  
"Hey, Troll Dust costs a lot to make! This stuff doesn't grow on trees, it's very expensive! When you shoot it at someone, it takes a lot, but drugging their food, takes much less. Saves a lot of money." Burly explained.   
  
"Oh. Well." She said, still a tad confused. She shook her head, then looked at the group once again. "Take me to her." She repeated.  
  
"Hold on a second. Where's our money? Ya know, this is going to cost a lot. We would've liked to deal with her ourselves. That is, if your offer hadn't been so nicey nice. So, where is it?" Blabberwart asked, shoving Burly to the side.  
  
"You will get it soon enough, now show her too me!" She felt her anger raising as she began to loose her temper. Trolls!   
  
"All right." Blabberwart said, then turned to Burly and whispered, "Suck an Elf, have you noticed how bossy bosses are!?" Burly only nodded in reply. The four left the dining room and Bluebell grabbed the cell keys on his way out. They headed down the hall, towards Virginia.   
  



	12. The Lie

Part 12  
  
Virginia awoke with a quick start. Sweat glistened on her forehead as she awoke from a horrible nightmare. She practically jumped off the floor as she remembered what had just happened to her not too long ago with her food. She could tell it wasn't poison, and for that, she was very thankful, but why would they drug her? What was the point?  
  
She slowly lifted herself into a sitting position on the floor, being cautious as not to create another headache. To her surprise, there wasn't even a hint of a headache, well, that made sense, this time they didn't hit her in the head with that crap.   
  
As she looked around her, she held back her gasp of surprise. She was in a completely different cell this time. She stood up and walked over to the window. It was just as high as the other one, but the bars were crossed vertically and horizontally instead of just straight up and down. Why would they move me? She thought, a new worry creased her brow.   
  
She turned around and noticed her door was now wooden with a hole in the center, protected by bars, which was very small. This really reminded her of Snow White Memorial Prison. But, why would she be there? No, she couldn't. The governor wouldn't really like the idea of Trolls housing their own victims there.  
  
So, now where was she? The same silence stood as before. In the distance she could hear water dripping and an ever so faint sound of moaning. She swallowed deeply, glad that it wasn't her making those awful cries. Placing her hands on her hips, Virginia paced the small cell in frustration. This was really wearing on her nerves.   
  
Just about when she was practically ready to scream, there was the familiar sound of foot steps. 1, 2, 1, 2... Growing louder with each step. Virginia hurried over to the door and watched for the owners of the steps. To her surprise, someone new was with the group. She was confused for a moment, then realization dawned on her. That's who's controlling the Trolls!  
  
Burly led the group over to Virginia's cell. The lady was behind him, then Blabberwart and Bluebell. There was so many questions Virginia was dying to ask, but her mind couldn't sort them all out at once, and so she remained speechless.  
  
"Hello Virginia." The lady spoke. Virginia was quiet taken aback by her voice. So calm, and yet, dripping with a horrible bittersweet tone, mocking Virginia. She gritted her teeth and stared at her.  
  
"Why am I here?" She questioned, adding a deeper tone to her voice. She didn't want her to feel superior to Virginia, even if she WAS the one behind bars.  
  
"I feel I have the need to give you something, in return for what you have taken from me."   
  
That made no sense to Virginia, what the hell was she talking about? There was something familiar about her voice, but she couldn't place it, whatever it was, was shoved to the back of her mind. If Virginia had taken something from her, which she was completely unclear what that was, she would want to take something for her, wouldn't she?  
  
"What are you talking about?" Was all that she could voice out.   
  
"What you took from me, left me in pain, and total abandonment. I am alone because of you. It's all your fault! I lost everything!" The girl was beginning to lose her control, and Virginia could see the tears she was trying to hide. This was unbearable.  
  
"What have I done to you!?" She yelled, all the frustration and being left in the dark finally reached her breaking point. She snapped. Virginia knew, as well as the others around her, that if she had the chance, she would most likely hurt every one of them fatally. They were driving her mad.  
  
"Exactly what I am going to do to you!" She yelled back. She took a deep breath, and smoothed out the front of her dress. Clearing her composure back to the same it was as she entered, she turned gracefully to the Trolls. "Leave me alone with her." The Trolls were about to object, but saw the look on their boss's face. The left without a word, quietly feuding with one another.  
  
Virginia swallowed and drew in a sharp breath. She stared down the lady, and for the first time, noticed the green eyes she had. She felt as though she had seen the same eyes before, but not to her liking. Virginia pushed it to the back of her mind again, and decided to change the subject a bit. So far, they were just going in circles.  
  
"What have you done with Wolf?" Virginia asked, trying desperately to hide her fear.  
  
The lady thought a moment. Perhaps that was what she could use against Virginia. Yes! That could be her weak spot, her breaking point, it could be where she broke Virginia down to nothing before her, as she had done to her. Smiling in satisfaction, with a grin displaying her thoughts, she chuckled.  
  
"That .... Wolf, well, he got in the way of things and had to be dealt with." She said, quite happily, walking back and forth in front of Virginia's cell.   
  
"Wh--what do you mean?" Virginia pushed out. Her heart was beating rapidly in her ear, she was most surprised that she didn't hear it as well, it was practically throbbing out of her throat.   
  
"Let's just say, there's one less filthy animal out in the world." She smiled as she watched Virginia's reaction. This was good. She would make her die of despair. So what if it wasn't true, Virginia didn't know that, and no one here was about ready to tell her the truth, and that was all that mattered.  
  
"What?" Virginia's question was nearly a whisper as she sank back into the cell, nearly falling over. It couldn't be true. It couldn't! No, she wouldn't believe it.  
  
"I'm sorry, did the little mongrel mean something to you? Oh dear." She paused. "Well, I guess life goes on, don't it?" She paused again and smiled wickedly. "Well, for some anyway."  
  
"You monster!" Virginia ran to the door and reached out the barred window as far as she could, just a few inches out of reach from her. She only laughed at Virginia's attempts and mocked her failure. Virginia couldn't stand it anymore, it was too much.   
  
Feeling her temper burst within her, Virginia screamed, "Who are you!?"  
  



	13. A Secret Revealed

Part 13  
  
Virginia was trembling, she could feel it. Her hands were shaking violently and her breaths were coming out short and quick. Still, the lady remained impassive. Her expression was a cross between amused and raged. Virginia swallowed and waited for the response. Why was this taking so damn long!?   
  
"My name is Ann." She spoke calmly and slowly. Virginia was utterly confused, that answered nothing. Ann watched her, and realized she needed more information. "Of course, you may know me better as Ann Peep, Sally Peep's sister."   
  
Virginia couldn't help drawing a heavy breath. Now, things starting making sense. Those green eyes, the same as Sally's. She could now recognize the same accent Sally had, even though it wasn't as strong.   
  
"What do you want with me?" Virginia asked when she found the voice to speak.   
  
"I want you to suffer, just as I had to!" Ann declared as she got closer to the cell. The way she said 'suffer' was just the same as Sally had said to Wilfred. The bad thing was, Virginia knew when Peep's said something like that, they meant it and intended to carry it out.   
  
"But I didn't do anything! Sally was the one who wrecked the well, she practically signed her own death certificate!" Virginia was the one that was angry now. Why was she to blame for something a spoiled brat had done?   
  
"You did too! If you hadn't come prancing into town, Sally would've won the competition and never ruined the well! She would still be alive!" Ann's voice was on fire. She screamed at Virginia with everything she had. Virginia had to wince away, realizing that some of it was the truth.  
  
"How could you possibly even care for her!? Why are you making me pay for something she deserved!?" Virginia knew she spoke the truth. She never wanted to think of herself as wishing for someone's death, but Sally's death truly was the only one she never felt remorse for.   
  
"It's not Sally's death that I'm getting you back for." Ann spoke softly.   
  
"Then what!?"   
  
Virginia saw Ann's calmness break."You ruined the Peep's good name! You and that idiot, Tony, made the people drive us out of town!"  
  
"This is insane!" Virginia yelled out, more to herself than to Ann. "If your family hadn't taken the magic well water, the town wouldn't have had a reason to kick you out. Sally would still, probably be alive, and you wouldn't have a reason to keep me here! It's your family that is to blame for your misfortunes, not me!" Virginia's throat ached. She had yelled out with every last breath she could muster up.   
  
Ann was quiet. Maybe Virginia was right. No! That wasn't what she had been taught. She was the enemy and she was the reason for their banishment. If she never existed, they would still be living happily in Little Lamb Village, with the people eating out of the palms of their hands. Everything would've been perfect. Everything WAS perfect.   
  
"You're wrong!" As certain as Ann wanted to sound, Virginia could hear that she was a bit unsure through her statement. "You were the reason Sally lost the competition. It wasn't her fault! Peep's were trained to win, we never knew defeat. She didn't know how to handle it. You drove her off the ledge and made her snap! If it wasn't for you, she'd be alive!"   
  
Virginia felt sick. Her mother's words suddenly came back and rang in her head. //You were nothing but an accident! You should've been killed at birth!// Ann was right. If Virginia had never been born or even existed, many people, not just Sally, would still be alive. Including her own mother.  
  
She sunk back into the cell and slid down against the wall, onto the floor. Pure shock was written all over her face as she gazed at nothing in particular. Ann watched curiously as Virginia remained motionless, her mouth hanging open. She didn't even seem to be breathing.  
  
"So..." Ann began, regaining her composure. "I feel it is only right you suffer the same fate as Sally. Fair's fair." Ann chuckled softly, reassuring herself that Virginia deserved this and she would be the one to carry it out. She had opened Virginia's wound again, she could tell, now it was time to pour in the salt.  
  
"Oh yes, I thought you might like to know, that wolf you were with, well, he died crying out your name." She paused and put a finger directly below her lips and arched and eyebrow. Virginia snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Ann, she could see Virginia's chest heaving and her eyes begin to water. She continued, "Although, I'm not sure why he would want to waste his last breath on you. Animals." She scoffed.   
  
Virginia didn't reply. She watched her helplessly and astonished as Ann laughed at her own last statement. Ann turned and walked down the hallway. As she got further away, she could hear Ann softly singing.  
  
"Shepherdess makes quite a mess, but little lambs are lovely..."  



	14. A Search Resumes

Part 14  
  
Tony was beginning to get worried. They had searched, what seemed the whole town, and there was still not a single trace of the crystal. The hope that they had gained from achieving the first crystal was slowing diminishing and wearing away. The people in the town were very friendly, but had no idea where something, such as a crystal, could possibly be found in their town. It was beginning to seem hopeless.  
  
They briefly talked with the mayor, but there wasn't anything he said that helped them. They checked the library, a few bars, and even knocked on a few houses, only to lead them to another dead end. Tony was beginning to feel very doubtful, and Wolf wasn't helping at all.   
  
Wolf was looking very bad, and it was only mid-afternoon. As they sat on a bench in the Town Square, Tony watched Wolf for a few minutes, trying to decide what was the best way to deal with him. He was perspiring and was frantically looking around every few seconds. These signs were not new to Tony; he remembered them well from the last moon.   
  
As Wolf glanced at him, Tony caught a glimpse of his eyes. They were hollow and full of fear and anxiety. His skin was pale and his breathing was in short patterns. Tony gazed up at the sky, a few more hours, and then it would be dusk. Not too much time before Wolf would be totally unhelpful and out of control.   
  
"Wolf?" Tony asked calmly, trying not to set him off into angry fit.   
  
"What?" Wolf turned back to Tony and waited a moment for a reply, and then began to look around again.   
  
"Where else to look is there left in this place?"   
  
"I don't know. We've looked everywhere. Let's get something to eat!" When he said that, it was more of a demand than a comment. Tony obliged; it was hungry too, even if he knew he really shouldn't stop. Tony nodded, got up from the bench, and straightened out his clothes. By the time he was finished, Wolf was already half way to the restaurant.   
  
By the time Tony caught up to him, Wolf was enjoying a large steak in the back of the restaurant. As he made his way over to the table, he motioned to him to slow down and stop creating a scene. Half the people were already staring at him, and whispering amongst themselves.   
  
Tony sat down and watched, mesmerized by how fast he could actually eat and entire steak. He shook himself out of his stare and decided to create a conversation to keep his mind from straying back to his doubts about that evening.  The last thing he wanted to do was become paranoid about him.   
  
"I was thinking, maybe the mirror was wrong, maybe we're in the wrong town or something." Tony sighed and took a glance around and looked at his surroundings. This didn't seem right. Kissingtown had many more options more hidden places that the gem could be, this town was so small. "Or, ya know, maybe it's all a scam and the town's hiding it from us. They probably don't want to give it to us, or they probably stole it. Bunch on con artists, that's what they are!"  
  
Wolf seemed to ignore Tony's bazaar accusations and continued to eat, not even acknowledging him by a quick eye contact. Wolf was tuned into only one thing, food. They sat there for a while as Wolf gobbled down more and more food. When he finally shoved his large plate of bones to the side, Tony knew the next problem they'd be facing with him. They left the restaurant and walked down the street, hoping some kind of object or anything would stick out. That's when it happened.  
  
Wolf nearly collapsed in the street, clutching his side. His face was scrunched, an obvious sign of pain, and he was sweating even more. Tony tried helped Wolf from falling to the ground, but he was only successful in slowing down his tumble. Wolf hit the ground and curled into a ball, letting out a series of painful moans.   
  
Tony quickly turned to a nearby spectator and asked him where the nearest barn was. There was no way Wolf would like to being put in an Inn, and a barn seemed to work the last time the moon came. Worst comes to worst, he thought, he could always tie him up in the barn as Virginia told him she had done before the competition. He thought over that again, he remembered that when he was caught, he had been out of the barn. How did he--- He stopped that thought, now wasn't the time. The young man pointed down the road to a large red barn. Tony nodded his appreciation and turned back to Wolf.  
  
"Come on, up you go. We just need to go down the road." Tony put Wolf's arm around his neck and helped him off the ground. Wolf could barely walk. Tony ended up dragging him most of the way. The things he did for this guy, he thought to himself.  
  
When they reached the barn, Wolf fell onto a bed of hay and stayed in his rolled up position. Tony watched, not sure quiet what to do with him. If only Virginia was there! She had been with him during almost all of his 'full moon time' and knew now what to expect. This was about as far as Tony's knowledge went.   
  
"Can I get you anything?" Was all that Tony could think of to say.   
  
Wolf didn't answer. He just rolled back and forth on the hay, clutching his sides in agony. After a few minutes, he finally began to slow down, and his face began to look calmer and is thoughts seemed more organized. It was strange, but it began to frighten Tony a little bit. Wolf stopped groaning and finally let go of his sides.   
  
Tony stood motionless, unsure of how to handle him, trying to imagine what he was going to through to understand. Wolf just stayed, lying on his back in the hay, his eyes staring up at the beams on the top of the barn.   
  
"Do you want anything?" Tony repeated, perhaps Wolf didn't hear him before. "Can I get you some food, water," he paused, "a rabbit?"  
  
"No. I don't want anything." He was talking through clenched teeth and Tony could see a glint of yellow in his eyes from where he was standing. "Just leave me alone!"   
  
Tony was startled. He took a deep breath and made his way for the exit, deciding to leave Wolf. He knew Wolf would probably stay there for a while, from what he could remember, he wasn't mobile again for a while after the cramps. He glanced back as he reached the door, and Wolf turned his head slowly and made eye contact with him.   
  
"Make sure you get as far away from me as possible, Tony." His voice was strained, but it sounded like him, the normal Wolf. It was like he was fighting himself, and losing. His expression suddenly changed into a menacing glare and his eyes were laughing as if he enjoyed tormenting Tony. He continued with a deeper tone that was filled with a sense of warning, daring him to stay. He licked his lips and said, "You never know what I might do."  



	15. Sunset

Tony decided to take Wolf's advice and leave him be for a while. Tony walked on through the street, trying to shake off the awful glare that Wolf had gave him before leaving. He wasn't capable of doing something like that, was he? Tony shook away his fears and doubts, deciding to continue looking for the crystal. If Wolf was handicapped for a while, someone had to keep looking.   
  
Tony took the moment he had alone and thought about the years he had with Virginia when she was growing up. He would never admit to anyone, but after Christine had left, he bonded with Virginia greatly. Without her mother there, Tony had to be there for her all the time. Besides his annoying mother-in-law, Tony had no one besides Virginia to help him with anything. She was his family, his only family as he was hers.   
  
She grew up of course, like everyone does, and Tony was starting to become fearful of the day she would pack up and leave for good, just like her mother had done. Day after day passed, and she still came home every night after work. Normally she would come home late at night, mostly after midnight, and Tony would be asleep on his chair in front of the television, with a half empty beer in hand.   
  
Secretly, he was never asleep. Every night since the day she started working, he stayed up and waited for her to come home. Making sure that she came home, and didn't leave him. Of course, he never let her know of his paranoia, but loved her even more every night she'd come back to the apartment, turn off the t.v., and kiss him goodnight on the cheek before heading off to bed.    
  
He smiled at the memory, and then smiled again when she told him she wasn't interested in finding 'the right man'. She never really dated as much as she always claimed, Tony also knew why. She was afraid of being hurt, or hurting someone as her mother had done and deeply left a permanent etch in Virginia. She never wanted to feel it again, and rarely made friends or went out, relying on only her father and grandmother.   
  
Then, the 9 Kingdoms came, along with Wolf, and changed her, along with him, and opened both of them up.  So much brought them closer. The whole adventure pulled them together and made them a tighter family. Then, someone had to rip them apart, when they were finally feeling like a complete family again. It pained Tony when he wasn't near his little girl, she meant so much to him. If he lost her, he didn't know what he'd do.    
  
Tony stopped suddenly in the road, feeling a pair of eyes on him. Someone was watching him, watching his every move and gesture, he could feel it. He glanced around in all directions, trying to find the owner of the stare, but couldn't see anyone staring back at him. He shrugged, deciding it was only his imagination.   
  
He walked on, but only made it a few more feet and then stopped again. Who was watching him? It couldn't be Wolf, he was just in the barn, so who? Tony looked around again frantically. Finally, he caught a glimpse of the eyes that were watching him.   
  
Before Tony could get a good look, they darted around the tree and into the forest. He went towards that direction, but could only see a dark figure running off. Why was it, that every town he went to, there was something strange happening that only he would see?  
  
Tony sighed and dropped his head back, shutting his eyes. Deep frustration set in him, and he felt he could barely contain it. Keeping his head back, he slowly opened his eyes. Another hour, and then the sun would set, the moon would rise. "Why me?" He whined and went back into town.  
  
  
Wolf clutched his side again, another wave of cramps flooded him and he let out a painful moan. He was restless and kept shifting on the hay, trying to get in a position that would ease the cramps, but there was no such thing. He wanted to catch up to Tony and help him get that crystal, but the pain was unbearable, it almost made him black out twice already. He wanted to eat. He was so hungry, he figured that was another reason that his cramps were so bad.   
  
"I just ate, how can I possibly be hungry!?" He asked himself. He paused and felt his mouth move, but couldn't control it.  A different voice emerged, deeper and darker than his own, but he recognized it.  
  
"Because you're an animal, an animal that wants to hunt. Hunt hunt hunt." He answered himself. He could feel his wolf side pushing and gaining control, but his human side desperately clung on, holding back his urges. Wolf's heart beat grew faster and faster, sweat began to pour down his face and onto his neck. His vision became slightly blurred and he could feel his teeth growing steadily sharper in his mouth.   
  
"I. Must. Fight. This." He gasped out. He could feel himself fighting his animal side, but it was loosing.   
  
"Why should I fight it? It's so much fun!" His wolf side mused. "Hunt! Food! Meat! Flesh!"   
  
"No! I have ... to stop this, for ... Virginia!" For the first time, he felt himself win control. All he had to do was think of her. He placed a mental picture of her in his mind and concentrated on it as best he could. The pain was clouding his senses and blocking out his hearing and sight.   
  
The picture of her was lost, and all he could think was meat. All he wanted to do was sink his teeth into warm flesh. To feed. To hunt. He lost the battle. The bones in his cheek realigned and pulled back harshly, showing his row of teeth, and a sinister smile crept across his lips.  
  
His eyes turned bright yellow and his sight improved to a thousand times better than normal, he could see and hear everything. There was food nearby.  The cramps were gone, but an even bigger pain of hunger filled his mind. The bones in his jaw down his neck changed, so he could now fit larger pieces of meat down his throat. The hunger was becoming unbearable.  
  
He got out of the hay with ease, no side effects lingered from the cramps. He was graceful and smooth as he walked, like a predator preparing for a hunt and chase. As he made his way to the doorway, something caught his senses. He whirled away from the front entrance to the back door of the barn which had been opened, for how long, he didn't know. He turned and saw the girl in purple he and Tony had met earlier that day, still and staring at him.   
  
Wolf smiled, and began to approach her.  



	16. The Barn

Wolf grinned further as he started to walk closer to her. Smooth and slow, taking his time with each step, hearing the soft crunch of hay beneath his feet. The moon had finally risen; the sun had set, sealing Wolf's fate for the next 48 hours. He wanted to run out and gaze at the moon, but he had a little business he had to deal with first.  He saw the door out of the corner of his eye, but made no attempt to shut it, he knew he was faster than she was. He became closer and closer to her, and yet she made no move for the door.   
  
Perhaps she was too scared to move, he thought, it had happened before. Wolf remembered times he had cornered farmers, but they were scared stiff. He left them with satisfaction and smiled remembering them clutching their shovels in terror, too afraid to move and too preoccupied to actually use it in defense. Most of them probably forgot it was in their hands and were to busy thinking about their possible death that might be quickly approaching them.   
  
The closer he got, the fuller scent of her aroma flooded him. Small, and yet succulent. She would never compare to a shepherdess, but maybe she could come in close. His eyes flashed widely at her as he dropped his head slightly so now he was gazing at her by the tops of his eyes, his smile still broad and evil. Still, the girl did not move. She didn't hesitate, or shift her eyes away from his. Surprisingly, she held her ground.   
  
Finally, Wolf stopped and was less than a few feet away from her. One quick move for the throat and she could be down in a second, he knew it, and for some reason, believed she did as well.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" He asked very slow and smoothly.   
  
She did not reply. Wolf was beginning to feel confused. This had never happened before. She did not tremble, or search around for a quick escape. No, she was collected and knew what she was doing. She also disregarded his question.  
  
"I know what you are." She said bluntly. The girl still did not take her eyes away from Wolf as most scared people do when an animal stares them down. She returned his gaze confidently and showed no signs of terror.  
  
Wolf was taken aback. Sure, she possibly could know from seeing him change the few minutes ago, but everyone that had seen him change, never waited around for him to recover. Why had she stayed? Why was she talking to him and not running away screaming or looking for someone to help build a bonfire and burn him?  
  
"Do you now? And WHAT exactly am I?" He called her bluff. He stressed the word 'what' as if it was venom. He hated being regarded to as a thing instead of a person. Too many had done it before her, and too many had learned the penalty of calling him that as well, if she did it again, he wouldn't wait for her answer.   
  
"You are a wolf." She said plainly.  
  
"Oh really? And … do you know what wolfies do to girls who push their luck?" He took another step closer to her and purposely pulled back his lip in a sinister smile, revealing his long row of teeth.  
  
This time, the girl took a step back. Wolf took pleasure in making her cower before him. Making her feel weak and insignificant as people had done to him. Ooh, how he wanted to make her pay for all the pain he had to endure in his childhood and even as an adult. He wanted to hurt her, as if that would cure everything and make all his pain go away.  
  
"I'm not afraid of you." She declared, but he could sense her fear. It was pouring off of her and filling the barn. Her eyes finally flew from his and darted around the barn, finally fixing on the door behind him, not dumb enough to turn her back on him. His smile grew. This would be fun. A challenge.  
  
"Oh, I think you are." He took another step towards her. His eyes started to glow a bright shade of yellow and a low throaty growl escaped his chest. She knew what he was planning to do. His pace became more rapid and he got closer and closer to her. She moved back with each step that he made that advanced on her, and without watching where she was going, her back bumped the door and shut it. She was pressed to the barn door, the latch digging into her back.  
  
She was immobilized. Wolf put his hands on each of her shoulders, preventing her from moving. Her breathing was ragged and she tried as hard as she could to hold in her rapid breaths, but with little success. He inched closer to her, and she could soon feel his hot breath on her face and neck. Just as he pulled back and was about to make a move, possibly a fatal one, she yelled. Not a fearful yell, but one with demand.   
  
"STOP!"  
  
He was quite surprised to hear that from her. She was so small and innocent, so frail and yet trying to seize power over him. He wouldn't allow it. He paused and looked at her in the eyes. His yellow eyes were still wild and focused on the direct middle of her eyes, staring into her. It was as if he was searching her soul, trying to figure out what gave her the strength to stand up to him like that.   
  
"Why should I!?" He asked, loosing his grip on her a little, waiting for a reasonable explanation. His patience was very thin and it took most of his power not to sink his teeth into her and rip out her throat that very moment. She moved away from the wall slightly, getting away from the door handle driving into her back, but Wolf thought it as an attempt to escape and shoved her against the wooden panel again. She moaned as her back slammed against the latch and looked at him again, and then answered.  
  
"Because I have the crystal."  
  



	17. Samantha's Story

"This is getting me nowhere." Tony thought to himself. He had been up and back in and out of all the same streets and yet he saw nothing. The same people, same stores and shops, but he was positive that the crystal wasn't there. He kept wanting to go back to the barn for some reason.   
  
Giving up on his search through the town, Tony finally decided to go with his instincts to go back to the barn. The closer he got, the more he heard. He was first surprised to hear Wolf's voice, he still thought he'd be laying in the hay. Then, he was shocked to hear another voice, female.   
  
"No, no, not again." Tony muttered as he hurried to the barn. He peaked in through the door and saw Wolf and the girl he had met earlier. Wolf's back was to Tony, and he could barely see the girl.  
  
From what Tony could hear, Wolf was angered by the girl, but Tony didn't know why. "It's just the moon, it's just the moon." He kept telling himself.  Tony had to wince away as he saw Wolf shove the girl against the door, and then heard her scream for him to stop. Convinced he had to help her, Tony opened the door and headed over to them. Wolf said something softly and the girl then replied she had the crystal.  
  
He stopped. She said what!? Tony had to take a step back, Wolf had been right when he said she had known something. Tony froze, he didn't know what to do. Why does she have the crystal?   
  
"You're lying." Wolf said. He was determined to make her pay for such a lie.  
  
"I'm not lying." The girl said confidently. Wolf had to believe her, he would be able to tell if she was lying, he could see it in her eyes.  
  
Wolf shook his head and took it with both his hands. A terrible headache waved over him, he needed to eat, he needed to hunt. The smell of the girl was driving him mad. He couldn't hurt her! He had to get the crystal. Later. Hunt now!  
  
Wolf turned and ran out the front barn door. He vaguely saw Tony or felt his own hand push him away as he ran by. As soon as he escaped the barn, he ran for the woods and didn't stop. Eating was the only thing on his mind.   
  
  
"Are you all right?" Tony asked as he approached the girl. She sat down on the hay and rubbed the middle of her back, trying to ease the dull pain.   
  
"I think so." She shrugged. Tony sat down next to her.   
  
"I heard you. You have the crystal?"   
  
"Yeah." She nodded.  
  
"Where is it? How did you get it?" Tony had a million questions to ask her, but those seemed the most important at the time.   
  
"It's a long story." She sighed  
  
Wolf was most likely going to be in his 'cycle' for a while, and they wouldn't be getting anywhere anyway. What could it hurt? It also might help them with finding the third.  
  
"All right, let's hear it."  Tony said as he settled himself into the hay.   
  
She paused as if she wasn't sure she should tell her story, but then started. "Well, first of all, my name's Samantha. I've lived here all my life. So did my Mom. We were both working in my Grandfather's store one day, and it was getting late. My Grandfather had to go home early, he had a touch of the flu, I felt as if I was coming down with it as well. I didn't want my Mom to work by herself, so I kept it a secret and tried to cover my sneezes and coughs, hoping I'd get better, not worse. It was spring, so my allergies weren't helping either.   
  
My Mom and I cleaned and locked everything up, and headed home. I remember my mother stopped me in the road and pulled me into the underbrush, telling me to be still and silent. I obeyed. We heard hoof beats approaching. It was a beautiful carriage, covered in red feathers. It had Prince Wendell's symbol on the doors.   
  
The horses stopped a few yards down from where we were hidden in a small clearing. I questioned my mother, it hadn't been the first time Wendell had visited our town. The people loved him, he was nice to the people and often brought gifts. I asked her why we were hiding from our Prince, and she whispered to me,"Why would the Prince come so late at night when everyone is asleep?"    
  
The thought also puzzled me, so I remained quiet. Being so young, it was hard for me to sit still for so long. The carriage just seemed to sit there forever. No one coming in or out, no sounds or lights. Just silence. My Mother hugged me and reassured me we would be going home soon. She quietly sang songs to me to keep me calm. She stopped and I wondered why. I followed her gaze to the carriage.  
  
Finally, the door swung open and I had a hard time keeping my gasp quiet. The Evil Queen stepped down from the carriage, followed by a few men, one in particular was holding a satin box.   
  
The next day, the Queen was going to be put at trial for the death's of our late King and Queen, and the attempted murder of the Prince. I asked my mother why she was here, but my mother did not reply, she just watched the queen and here every move.   
  
The Queen took the box, and pulled out a beautiful yellow crystal. In the box, I saw another crystal, it was green and an empty place for another. I stared at it in awe, it was so pretty, even at night. The Queen shut the box and handed it back to the man again. I still can never forgive myself for what I did.  
  
A tickle was caught in my throat and I felt pressure building up in my lungs. I had to cough terribly. My allergies combined with my flu were coming together. Finally, I let it out in a deep, loud cough.   
  
I still remember the Queen as she snapped her head in our direction, and the fear that overwhelmed me. I froze in the grass. My mother pushed me away and told me to run out of sight and to stay hidden no matter what I heard or saw. I obeyed her once more and ran.   
  
I ran into the woods and ran until I started to cough again. I covered my mouth and hide behind a tree. My chest was heaving up and down and I couldn't help but to cough again. Sweat poured from my forehead and I thought I was going to faint. I felt pale and cold, even though the sweat was covering my face. I was so sick.   
  
I looked around frantically for my mother, but I thought she had hidden in the forest as well. As I Iooked through the darkness for her, my heart stopped as I heart a blood curdling scream. My mother's scream."  
  
Samantha had a hard time keeping the tears inside her. She rubbed away the ones that were threatening to fall and sniffed. Tony sighed to himself. Christine, his Christine, a cold blooded killer. Not that he didn't already know that, be so many stories he had seen and been told included her killing or destroying someone. Despite her tears, Samantha continued on.  
  
"I stayed behind that tree for a very long time. Not daring to move, too saddened from my apparent mother's death. When I finally brought myself to going back to the hiding spot, they had already put my mother's body into the carriage, destroying all evidence of the murder.   
  
The Queen placed her hand on a knot in a tree near the clearing, and a small door opened up. She gently wrapped the crystal in a velvet pouch and placed it inside the tree. She shut the door on the tree and left.   
  
As soon as the carriage was but a small dot in the distance, I ran over to the tree. I placed my shaking hand on the same knot and when that door opened, I snatched the gem without a second thought and ran home. The Queen took something dear away from me, so I did the same. I told my Grandfather of the news of my mother's death, he was so saddened, he never recovered from the flu, and died a few weeks later.   
  
The Queen was put in prison and I never found out the importance of the crystal, nor did I really care. I continued to work in my late Grandfather's shop until a few months ago, when I didn't care anymore. So, I just live in my old house, and come into town everyday, pretending everything's all right, even though everyone knows it's not.   
  
You can't imagine how happy I was when I learned of the Evil Queen's death by Lady Virginia. When the news came to our town, I broke down in the middle of the street and cried for joy. Finally, justice was served.   
  
I eventually learned the story of you, Wolf, and Virginia and all your trials. When you came into town this morning, I wasn't sure how to react. I overheard you in the restaurant talking to Wolf about the crystal and eventually about what had happened to Virginia."  
  
"I'm so sorry about what Christine put you through." Tony said. It was the only comfort he could get out. He was so overwhelmed by the story, he could hardly believe it.   
  
"It's all right. I've learned to deal with it over the years."  
  
"How old were you?"  
  
"Four."   
  
Tony shook his head, she was so young. Samantha raised out of the hay and went to the barn door.  
  
"You need the crystal and I want to repay Virginia for what she did, even if she doesn't realize it."  
  
"She will." Tony assured her and joined her by the front door.   
  
Samantha smiled and lead him out the door. "Come on, I'll show you the crystal."  



	18. Seeing Yellow

Tony followed Samantha further away from town and deeper into the forest. All the light that was left from the sun had now vanished. The moon seemed to shine brighter than the sun at night. The stars were petite speckled dots, barely showing in the sky. No wonder Wolf was always entranced by the moon, Tony thought, it really was intimidating and seemed to hold it's own power when it was full and filled the sky.   
  
He followed her into a small clearing where a tiny cottage was nestled between a sliver of a creek and a dense row of trees. There was an ax that was left dormant on an old trunk, obviously used for chopping wood. There was no fresh cut woodpile, or any new notches made into the trunk. The ax, Tony noticed, hadn't even been touched for a long time, it was covered in a thin layer of dust.   
  
Samantha led him over to the front of the house and opened the door. It slid open with a loud creak and Tony stepped inside. Samantha lit a candle in the center of the room and then another near the back. The house was small, and yet cozy. So many things with this cottage reminded him of when he first saw the Seven Dwarve's cottage; everything fit for the perfect size of the owner.   
  
Samantha closed the door behind her and motioned Tony to sit at the table. She had a silver pitcher sitting on the kitchen counter, which was once filled in a cup, Tony realized had water in it. Tony took a sip, it was very delicious. Warmer than he would've liked, but still very tastily nonetheless.   
  
"Make yourself at home, I'll be right back." Samantha said before leaving into the back rooms. Tony quickly finished his cup of water and refilled it again. Tony noticed a beautiful bouquet of flowers placed on a small table near the hall. Daises and Buttercups, he noticed, there were some others, but he couldn't identify them. He was never good with flowers.   
  
"That's a nice vase of flowers there." Tony called to Samantha in the back rooms, trying to have some small talk between her.  
  
"Oh yes," She said from the back room, "Mrs. Crendell from the other side of the town picked them for me. She's been giving me things since I can remember. Food, clothes, whatever the weather or time permits. She's such a sweet lady. Her husband, Mr. Crendell, is the town's butcher. He always has the best selection of meat, of course, I'm a vegetarian, but according to most of the town, it's delicious."  
  
She came into the room holding a purple velvet sack in her right hand. Two yellow cords tied it, both knotted twice. The cords were slightly frayed and worn and Tony thought it was possible that she opened the pouch more than once or twice since she stole it. She quickly undid the knots and pulled out a long yellow crystal, identical to the red one. Tony stared at it in awe, another crystal. Two down, only one more to go and then they could get Virginia back, but his hopes were dimmed slightly by a quick thought.   
  
"Damnit." He muttered as he turned away from the crystal and down to the cup he held.  
  
"What is it?" Samantha asked as she put the crystal on the table and placed the pouch on the counter. She pulled back a chair and sat opposite to Tony.  
  
"I left my sack in the barn." He needed the mirror to figure out where the next crystal was. Wolf or no Wolf, he was going to keep searching, Virginia was counting on him.   
  
"Well, we can go back and get it." Samantha offered raising from her chair. Tony nodded and took the crystal off the table, placing it sloppily in his pocket. He finished off his water and put the cup on the counter next to the pouch.   
  
Samantha opened the door and immediately shot back to where Tony was. He was confused by what spooked her, until he saw Wolf standing in the doorway, a grin on his face, and a line of blood around his lips. Tony and Samantha backed up instinctively as Wolf took a step inside the cottage and shut the door behind him.   
  
Tony and her were not afraid of Wolf, they were afraid of the wolf in him. His eyes were turning a shade of yellow and his hair was mussed and dirty. His hands were covered in blood and dirt; his clothes were ragged and tattered. He stared at them, keeping his same smile, and walked over to the counter where the velvet pouch was.  
  
He lifted it up and gazed at it for a moment. Then looked again at them, keeping his glare directly on Samantha.   
  
"Well, well, what do we have here? I wonder what could've possibly been in this. A yellow crystal, perhaps? It looks about the right size to me. Only, one small thing, it's empty!" He held the bag upside down and shook it. "Where did it go?" He put a fake confused and shocked expression on his face and began to pace the room. He dropped the pouch on the table and arched an eyebrow. He saw the crystal peaking out of Tony's pocket.   
  
"Listen Wolf, maybe you should head back to the barn and lie down for a little while." Tony suggested.  
  
"Oh yeah, you just know EVERYTHING that I should do, don't you Tony!? Always offering advice, when you're the one who needs it the most!"   
  
"Hey listen, I'm not going to take that tone from you!" He said, putting in more volume than he would've liked, the last thing he wanted to do was make Wolf angry.  
  
"Oh really? And what are you going to do? You wanna go to that barn and get something nice and sharp to stick into me? Cause that's what your daughter was going to do. Just like all people and farmers. You're all alike, all wanting to burn and destroy wolves like me, we're just filthy animals to you, aren't we? You just want to kill us all. Well, it's not going to happen anymore. I'm going to get you ... before you get me."   
  
"Wolf, just stop. Listen to what you're saying. You know it's not true." Tony tried to reason. He put up his hands and slowly walked towards Wolf, trying to calm and soothe him. Samantha stayed near the corner of the kitchen, watching helplessly, as Wolf's eyes burned brighter and his teeth appeared out of the corner of his mouth.   
  
It didn't work. Instead, Wolf began to approach Tony. He slowly took each step, just as he did in the barn, feeding off of the fear they were both giving off. They circled around the table; Wolf sped and declined his pace as they went, trying to learn their moves. Tony glanced quickly at Samantha, within that small moment their eyes met, his flickered to the door with a small tilt of his head. She very slightly nodded and both turned back to Wolf.   
  
Tony paused and waited for the right moment. "Samantha, now!" Tony shouted as they both sprang for the door. With a grunt, Samantha flung it open and ran outside. The door slammed shut behind her, she stopped running and froze. Tony was still inside.   
  
Her hands were trembling and her heart was racing. She grabbed her head and watched the cottage, hoping he would emerge from inside. He was trapped, she knew it. Her knees began to shake and she frantically searched for something, anything.  
  
"What can I do!? What can I--" She stopped as her eyes rested upon the ax.  
  
  
Wolf pressed Tony up against the door and brought his face close to his. Tony tried to move away, but Wolf's hold was too strong, his reflexes too acute for him to hope to escape. Wolf smiled devilishly again and leaned towards Tony's ear and whispered.  
  
"I told you to get far away, didn't I?"   
  



	19. The Ax

Wolf pushed Tony harder against the door, smiling at the satisfaction of his painful grunt. Tony grabbed Wolf's hands and tried to push them away, trying anything to escape his grasp, but it was useless. Wolf was physically stronger than he was, but perhaps he could reason with him, or convince Wolf to let him go. They had already wasted so much time, there was only four days left.   
  
"Wolf, come on, let go. You don't know what you're doing." Tony said calmly and slowly as if he was talking to a small child. Any comment could set Wolf off; he didn't want to be the owner of that sentence.  
  
"Oh, I don't, huh? Well, then I guess you do. What exactly am I doing Tony?" Wolf asked cruelly, a deep tone of rage crept through his voice.  
  
"Something I know you'll regret." He paused. "Just let me go, all right? We need to find those crystals for Virginia, so just let me go, and we can get her."   
  
"I don't need you." He said softly, almost happily.   
  
"Ye--Yes you do, Wolf. I just got the yellow crystal, so now we can get the third." As soon as the words left his mouth. he scolded himself, he didn't think telling Wolf about the crystal was a good idea, he was already suspicious about it.   
  
"I don't need you." Wolf repeated, adding a smile this time. "I already have it." He held up his right hand, still holding Tony tightly with his left, and revealed the yellow crystal gripped securely in his hand. Tony stared at it, open mouthed, and then shut his eyes tightly. Damn. "Now, I have two of the crystals, it'll be easy to find the third. I don't need you." He repeated coldly.  
  
Tony hesitated and then his eyes lit up. "Yes you do!" He said confidently.   
  
"Oh really? And why is that?"   
  
"You don't have the mirror." He said with a hint of gloat in his voice.  
  
Wolf's smile shrank, and his grip loosened. His eyes shot around frantically, and his eyebrows sunk in deep thought. A moment passed and the two stood motionless. Tony searched for a quick escape, anything that could help him. Wolf suddenly shot his eyes to Tony and slammed him against the wall again.   
  
"Where is it!?" Wolf shouted. His eyes burned yellow and his fangs crept out from the side of his mouth. "Tell me now!"  
  
  
  
Samantha stared at the ax for a long, suspended moment. Everything around her was a total blur, all she could see was the red and silver ax glistening in the moonlight, calling to her, pulling her over to it. Before she knew what happened, her hands were gripped around the wooden handle and she was taking quick, long strides to the house.   
  
She stopped. "What the hell am I doing?" She questioned herself quietly. For the first time in minutes, she took her eyes off the ax and looked at the house. "I can't hurt Wolf." She said, ashamed of the thoughts that had been running in her mind. "But I have to do something."   
  
Her pace resumed and Samantha turned the other way, to the right of the house, and ran. She ran around the right side and to the back. There wasn't a door, but the was a small window, coming from her room. Thank goodness it was already opened. She quickly threw the ax through the window and shortly followed.   
  
Once inside, she grabbed the handle and crept through the back of her house. Having lived there all her life, she knew where each creaking board was in the house. She easily avoided each of them, and made her way into the kitchen. Wolf's back was to her and Tony was pressed to the door quite roughly.   
  
Realizing that Wolf would pick up on her scent, she knew she had very little time to act. What was she going to do? She wasn't sure how she could save Tony, without injuring Wolf. She had to make it up as she went.   
  
She watched Wolf unwaveringly, not daring to turn her back on him for even a slight instant. He was whispering to Tony, but she could still hear harshness and venom in his tone as he spoke. She tried to control her breathing, trying to keep it shallow, but heavy gasps escaped every now and then, making her heart beat rise and her control over it more difficult. She watched, horrified, as Wolf's head tilted back. He had her scent. She wasted not a moment longer.   
  
"Let him go." She demanded, tightening her grip on the ax. Her knuckles turned white and her hands began to throb.   
  
Wolf half turned away from Tony and saw Samantha out of the corner of his eye, holding a pretty sharp ax. Wolf made no attempt to do anything.   
  
"Let him GO!" She repeated louder.  
  
Tony nodded. "Come on, do what she says, all right? Let's talk about this, we can work it out." He knew it probably wouldn't work, but it was worth a shot.   
  
"Work WHAT out? I'm an animal. I'll always be an animal. A disgusting beast that EVERYONE wants to destroy." His voice was cold and detached. He let go of Tony and turned to Samantha. He looked at her evilly and then stared at the ax, his eyes filled with hate and pain. "Everyone." He repeated.   
  
Samantha swallowed, quite audibly. She crept into the back rooms where she had came from, Wolf following her every move.   
  
"Wolf, leave her alone." He paused, he had to convince him to let her be. "Come on, let's get you something to eat." Tony said. He grabbed Wolf's arm and tried to pull him back towards the front door, but only succeeded in making him angry.   
  
"Let. Go. Of. My. Arm." Wolf said slowly. Tony didn't obey.  
  
Wolf flung around and yanked Tony's arm off of him. He once again pushed Tony to the door, this time as hard as he could. He was aiming for the door, but missed his target. Tony flew backwards and slammed the back of his head against the doorknob. He slumped to the ground, and was still.  
  
Wolf watched, and felt very little, if any, guilt for what he did. When he was sure that Tony wasn't getting up, he turned back to Samantha, but she was already halfway down the hall, running as hard as she could. He smiled and followed her. This would be fun.   
  
He ran down the hall and into the bedroom where she was already trying to get out of a window. The hem of her dress was caught on a stray nail, and she was desperately trying to rip the fabric .She increased her efforts as she saw him coming towards her. He went into the room just as the dress ripped and released her. He grabbed her leg, as she was just about to pull it through the window.   
  
"Let me go!" She struggled, trying to be free of his grip. Seeing no other option, she took the ax, and swung.   
  
  
  
  



	20. A Struggle to Regain

The ax flew through the air so fast, it was just a blur. Samantha immediately wanted to undo the swing, wanted to take it back. It was too late. Wolf recoiled back to the opposite side of the room, grasping his bloody arm, his face scrunched in pain, his eyes tightly shut.   
  
Luckily, she had poor aim and only skimmed his arm, making a cut down the front of his right arm. The slash was about a foot long, but barely an inch deep. Still, he bled profusely, and drenched the sleeve of his shirt with blood. She watched, guilt ridden, as Wolf whined in pain. As the events of what happened came back to his mind, he opened his eyes and snarled as he looked at Samantha.   
  
"I'm sorry." She whispered gently.   
  
Wasting no more time, she went through the window, taking the bloody ax with her. Wolf watched her leave, but did not follow. Once Samantha was outside again, she quickly decided what to do. Tony was still in the kitchen, his condition unknown to her. He needed her help, and now, hopefully Wolf wouldn't pursue them again.   
  
She tossed the ax into the underbrush at the edge of the forest after wiping away the blood in the grass. She quickly sprinted alongside the house and back to the front. Quietly and carefully, she opened the front door, remembering that Tony was leaning against it. When the door opened, he slumped forward, and sprawled onto the floor. Samantha could faintly hear Wolf in the back whining and muttering to himself, he needed to get Tony out quickly before Wolf noticed she was there.   
  
Samantha leaned down and checked on Tony. A small bump on the head, but nothing too serious. She gently shook him, trying to wake him, but he didn't move. She put her arms under his and began to drag him out of the door.  
  
She quietly kicked the door open further and slid him through, out into the yard. She shut the door slowly and went back over to Tony.   
  
"Tony?" She whispered. "Come on, get up." She begged.  
  
Seeing the creek a little ways ahead, she glanced at Tony again and then ran over to the bank. She scooped up some of the icy water and quickly hurried back over to Tony. Opening her hands over his head, the frigid water fell onto his face, and his eyes immediately flew open. He coughed and sputtered and sat up quickly. The motion made him wince and grab the back of his head in pain.  
  
"Ow, what a bump." He muttered.   
  
"Tony? Are you all right?"   
  
"I think so, but I've got one hell of a headache." He said. He continued to check his bump, he obviously touch a sore spot, because immediately his eyes shut and he moaned. "Where's Wolf!?" He asked suddenly, both eyes wide open, ignoring the pain in his head. "Is he still around here? We've gotta go, come on!"   
  
"Shh. It's all right Tony, he's in the house, but I think we'll be safe for a while." She assured him, looking onto the house, reassuring herself in the process.   
  
"Let's go to the barn then. He's got the crystals, so we have to keep that mirror away from him. If he gets it, who knows what he'll do."   
  
"All right." Samantha agreed and helped Tony off the ground. Tony glanced at his watch, still a few hours till sunrise. They made it to the barn quickly, both checking over their shoulders every now and then to make sure they weren't being watched. The air was cold and a strong gust of wind came by every once in a while. Tony shut the barn door and locked it tightly.   
  
"Ok, where is it Tony?" Samantha asked, glancing around the barn and then turning back to him.   
  
"I ... it..." He stammered. "I put it right there!" Tony pointed to a pile of hay in the center of the barn. They both walked over to the hay, both half hoping that it would reappear in front of them magically. Samantha whirled around as she suddenly heard chains clinking behind her, but no one was there.  
  
"Did you hear that?" Samantha whispered to Tony, still watching the chains. There wasn't anyone over there, that's what made her skin crawl. They were swaying back and fourth slightly from the top beam of the barn.  
  
"Yeah, what was it?" Tony whispered back, almost afraid to turn around.   
  
"I don't know. There's no one there. Maybe it was a mouse or something." She answered, trying to calm Tony and herself at the same time. As Samantha and Tony looked again for the sack, a huge bundle of hay came crashing to the ground from the hayloft, instantly breaking the tie, sending straw everywhere.   
  
"What kinda mouse is that!?" Tony asked as they both looked up at the loft.   
  
"No mice up here, just us little wolfies." Wolf showed himself on the top of the loft, smiling down on them. The loft was a good thirty feet into the air and only one ladder leading up. His arm was covered in blood and his shirt was tattered from a sloppy job he did of trying to cover the wound. Tony didn't need a second guess as to how he got the injury, it was obvious when he saw Samantha looking at it with guilt.   
  
"Looking for this?" Wolf asked, holding up the sack. He smiled at them and showed off the bag, swinging the sack back and forth in the air.   
  
"Now, I wonder what could be in here." Wolf said as he unzipped the bag. Tony looked at Samantha in despair, she turned and returned the look. Wolf pulled out the mirror and looked over it, and sighed. "I really don't need you now, Tone." He spoke coldly, no emotion in his voice, somewhat like an echo. Then Tony understood. This wasn't Wolf, it wasn't the real playful and caring Wolf, it looked like Wolf and sounded like him, but this wasn't an ordinary mood swing. The moon made him become the exact opposite of what he truly was. Somehow, Tony had to reach the real Wolf, and snap him out of this, it was his only hope.   
  
"Wolf, listen to me. You don't want to do this. You need me and I need you to get through this together."   
  
"I don't need you Tone." Wolf repeated. He glared down at Tony with hateful eyes. Wolf didn't need to flash them, just the empty stare he sent Tony was frightening enough. "I can do this on my own. I could've done this whole thing on my own."   
  
"See, that's where you're wrong Wolf!" He pointed up and Wolf, smiling a bit as he realized that wasn't true. "Who would've caught you on that roof ledge the other night? You would've been hurt if I didn't catch you, and then how would you save her?"   
  
It started to work. Wolf lowered the sack and looked down ad the ground, seriously considering what might have happened. He pulled up his hand as saw the slash that he got the other night, finally beginning to heal, but still bruised and swollen. It was true. Wolves were pack animals, they needed each other to help them get through hard times. The real Wolf was trying desperately to come back, but his animal side wasn't done yet. He only had so much time per month, he was determined to use it all.  
  
"So what? So you saved me from falling, that doesn't matter," He shook his head at Tony. "I can still finish this on my own. I'll save her without you."  
  
Then, and idea snapped in his head, Virginia, maybe she would help. "Why don't you use her name Wolf? You keep saying 'her', use Virginia's name. Go on. Say it."  
  
Wolf paused, he didn't answer him. Virginia. The damn moon made him forget about his own mate. Of course he was trying to get the mirror so he could finish the mission, but he had lost sight of why they were on it. Wolf felt like hitting himself in the head, he felt so stupid. His mate was in danger and he was playing cat and mouse with Tony, the only other person that could help him get her back.   
  
He whined a little and turned away from Samantha and Tony to the back of the loft. Then, to himself, he whispered, "Virginia." He smiled. As much progress as Wolf had been making, his animal side still pulled at him, crying to him to let the real animal out.   
  
His cramps started to return, burning flashes of pain coursed through his body as he clutched his side and fell into the hay, moaning in agony. Tony instantly began to climb the ladder to the top of the loft, determined to help him.   
  
He couldn't take the pain. His body wasn't used to changing back in the middle of a full moon, his body couldn't take it. It was almost as if he was going through the whole change again. He felt his teeth become sharp and his sight became perfect. He couldn't win. Tony reached the top of the loft and firstly grabbed the bag and threw it to Samantha on the bottom.   
  
He motioned her to run and hide it as he turned back to Wolf. He was rolling back and fourth in the hay, muttering to himself, his back to Tony. Tony tapped Wolf on the shoulder lightly.   
  
"Come on Wolf, let's get you outta here." Tony said, trying to turn over Wolf.   
  
Wolf didn't respond. He stayed in his curled position for a few minutes, and then Tony tried again.  
  
"Wolf, let's go, let's get you down."   
  
"No." His voice, cold and flat.   
  
"Oh no," Tony muttered quietly, he unfortunately recognized that tone and tried to move away from Wolf. He backed up, near the edge of the loft and made his way for the ladder. Wolf suddenly turned over and stood up, no pain showed from the cramps or his arm.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" He asked Tony who didn't reply. "Oh, you wanna go down?" He placed his hands on Tony's shoulders. "Maybe you should take the shortcut!" He said cruelly and with one swift movement, he pushed Tony off the side of the loft.   
  
Tony fell to the ground and hit the barn floor with a loud thump. Wolf watched Tony fall and hit the floor motionless, almost getting pleasure off of making him suffer through so much pain in one night. Tony didn't get up off the floor, nor did he move. Only one thought went through Wolf's mind. He sat there, quietly watching for signs of life, but there wasn't any. Wolf felt pain in his heart, Tony looked dead.   
  
  
  



	21. A Battle's End

Wolf swallowed. He sat back against the hay, and watched. Tony still didn't stir. With a hard flash of pain and energy, he felt himself instantly change. His teeth became normal, his eyes changed back to his regular sight, and his mouth realigned again. As if someone was pulling on him, he came back to his reality. It made Wolf feel, almost that his animal side knew, it realized, even it had gone too far.   
  
The instant change wouldn't go without a side effect, and a painful one for that matter. His legs grew numb and his stomach twisted, he clutched his side, the agony of the pain was twenty times worse than his normal cramps. As before, he had never changed so rapidly, but at least this time, his animal side wasn't fighting.   
  
He felt nauseous. The barn started to spin, the hay felt like daggers against where he had pressed his hand for support. Everything was spinning so quickly. He shut his eyes, in a desperate attempt to regain his composure. The pain from the change and the fatigue he felt made him sway. As hard as he tried against it, he still blacked out and fell back onto the hay.   
  
  
Someone screamed. That's all he heard. His eyes flew open and he sat up. Instantly regretting that quick move, his gripped his head and tried to rid of an awful headache that throbbed his mind. He felt like he was hung over, he couldn't remember anything and he was nauseous again. The scream. He suddenly remembered hearing a scream.   
  
"Oh no." He mumbled quietly to himself. The full moon. The full moon is up! "Oh, cripes!" He said, a little louder. As the words left his mouth, his headache grew and he winced away, it hurt to talk. His mouth hurt horribly, especially his jaw and teeth. He rubbed them as he caught a glimpse around.   
  
The full moon is up? He thought again. But, how can that be? He felt really strange. He had never been himself to actually see the moon, except for when he was a little cub. Through a broken board in the loft, he could see outside to it. I was beautiful, but it wasn't calling to him. He felt joy, but then guilt. For some reason, he felt guilty. Wolf didn't want to know the reason why.  
  
A hay loft? He thought curiously as he glanced around. How did I get here? Wolf looked around the hay and finally down to the ground. He saw a girl leaning over Tony, muttering and whispering, shaking him a little as she spoke. As if ice cold water was being poured onto him, he hazily remembered Tony falling to the ground, and the girl hitting him, with an ... ax.  
  
Sure enough, as if his dreams had come to life, Wolf looked at his bruised and bloody arm. It wasn't a dream he had; it was a horrible nightmare that had come true. Wolf touched it, and instantly winced away; it throbbed and stung, just as his head still felt.   
  
He made his way to stand, but fell back. His legs were weak. He tried again, but this time, with better success. Hanging on the beams above him, he made his way to the ladder and carefully walked over the side and onto the first step. Samantha glanced up where Wolf was and did a double take. She stood up, and stood over Tony.   
  
"Stop right there, Wolf. Just leave us alone. You've already done enough." He voice was thick and she sounded like she was about to break down. The events of the night were catching up to her and she couldn't take much more.  
  
"No." He replied weakly. He had to convince her it was the real Wolf. He tried to get more out of his mouth, but nothing would come. His throat hurt terribly. His whole body ached and what made things worse was knowing that Tony's probably did too. He started to come down the ladder, slow but sure, step by step.   
  
Samantha went back over to Tony in a hurry, trying to wake him as fast as possible. Wolf saw it, and felt worse. They were afraid of him. He hated when people ran away at the sight of him and feared of the times he changed. He didn't really want to know what he did that was so bad, he was afraid of what he might do to himself if he did.  
  
"Stop." He sounded raspy and dry, it wasn't a demand, it was a plea.  
  
"What?" Samantha asked, completely confused, as she watched him descend the last few stairs and onto the ground. He had to hold himself up by the ladder, worried that if he let go, his legs would give out. He looked horrible. His hair was a complete mess, his clothes were covered in mud and hay and he had deep bags under his eyes. His eyes. Samantha noticed. They weren't full of rage and anger; they were warm and soft. The same eyes she saw when he entered the village, except much more tired.   
  
"Please." He got out with a gasp. He grabbed his side again as another wave of pain flew over him. "I won't hurt you." He knew that was what she was worried about, and so tried to convince her of it.   
  
"How do I know you're not lying? The moon is still up." Samantha asked.  
  
"You don't, you'll have to trust me." Wolf brought his hand up and rubbed his mouth gently, it hurt so badly. He wanted to lie down and go to sleep, but knew he couldn't.   
  
Samantha hesitated. She thought that perhaps it was just a trick for her to come over there and then he'd grab her. But, every time she'd have a doubt, she'd think about the difference in his eyes. He was right; she'd have to trust him.   
  
When she started to move over to Wolf, she heard a groan from behind her. Tony was waking up! She paused, went back over to Tony, and helped him sit up.   
  
"Are you all right, Tony?" She asked.  
  
Tony rubbed his head, front and back, and opened his eyes. As he focused his eyes flew open as he caught sight of Wolf.  
  
"Whoa! Samantha, come on!" He tried to stand, but the same ailment that held Wolf, had him too. His legs gave out before he got halfway up and he came back to the floor by Samantha. "Ooh, my back." He slumped back to the ground and huddled back over to Samantha as he saw Wolf watching him. He was like a little child, scared of the bogeyman in it's closet. Afraid it would come and take him away. Wolf swallowed again as he felt the pain in his heart returning again. Seeing Tony frightened of him hurt him more than the moon could ever do. For once, he was extremely happy that Virginia wasn't there.  
  
"No Tony, I think it's ok." Samantha said calmly. For the first time since Tony awoke, he turned away from Wolf and over to Samantha. She nodded and gave him a small, confident smile. He looked at her, completely confused and then turned his attention back to Wolf.   
  
Wolf was in worse shape than before, he needed to sleep. He was totally relying on the ladder for support and was practically asleep on his feet. Trying to prevent blacking out again, he kept shifting his weight on his feet, thinking that if he kept moving, he wouldn't slip unconcious.   
  
"Are you sure?" He heard Tony ask Samantha quietly, she nodded as a response. With much help from Samantha, he stood and hobbled slowly over to Wolf.  
  
"Wolf?" He asked.  
  
Wolf opened his half-closed eyes fully and smiled at Tony. "Hey Tone." He replied weakly. With that, Wolf groaned and fell forward. He was caught just in time before hitting the floor by Tony and Samantha. They pulled him over to the pile of hay in the middle of the barn and let him sleep. There would be time to talk in the morning about what had happened. Samantha and Tony finished cleaning Wolf's arm just as the sun began to rise. A day they could continue their journey, but remembrance of another day lost.   
  
  



	22. The Next Clue

Wolf opened his eyes and instantly winced away from the sun beaming in from the barn doors. He put his hand in front of his eyes to block the blinding light, and searched around the barn. He was alone.   
  
All the events that led up to his second black out came back to him, he remembered everything that had happened, that was a good sign. He sat up and was surprised that he didn't feel any pain from the movement in his stomach or head. His arm was very sore, but that was to be expected.  
  
He gently checked it and it was cleaned. The cut wasn't as deep as he remembered it to be when it happened, but he could never be sure of anything he supposedly 'remembered' during a night like that. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit confused about how he had snapped out of it so quickly. Perhaps it was his conscious mind alerting him that someone he cared about could be seriously hurt.  
  
Whatever the case was for that night, he didn't want to dwell on it. It was in the past, it was fine enough with him if it permanently stayed there, even though the next moon would come all too soon for him.  
  
He got up and walked towards the door, glad that he didn't have to hold onto something for support or feel that he was going to collapse. He took a few steps out of the barn and looked around. There were some storm clouds coming their way, but they still had time before they arrived. When he turned to the village, he saw Tony coming to the barn.  
  
Wolf was unsure of how to act, he didn't remember anything he had done during the full moon, therefore wasn't sure what was the right thing to say. Tony approached him, a small grin on his face, glad to see Wolf back to normal. There was a look of uncertainty in his eyes that Wolf had seen before, but couldn't remember exactly where from. It wasn't what he had to worry about, so he put it in the back of his mind.  
  
"So, how are you feeling?" Tony asked as he came up to Wolf.   
  
He ran his hand through his hair and shrugged. "All right I guess. You?"   
  
"Well, I could be better, but okay." Tony and Wolf both nodded and Wolf turned his attention to the other side of town and quickly was lost in his own thoughts. It was an awkward moment for the both of them, but was soon interrupted when Samantha came up to them.   
  
"Hi." She said softly to the both of them with a smile of happiness and sadness on her face at the same time. "I just wanted to say good-bye, and I wish you the best luck for your journey. I hope that everything turns out to be Happy Ever After." She said brightly.   
  
"Here," She said as she handed Tony two small bags. "Some sandwiches for the trip."  
  
"Thanks." Tony placed the sandwiches in his bag and swung it over his shoulder. "You wouldn't happen to have any horses we could borrow, would you?"   
  
"I'm afraid not. The only three our town has are being used to ship this month's crops to Kissingtown." She said sadly, realizing the importance in them all too late. "Well, I better get going, Mr. Crendell needs help, there was an incident last night, his meat locker is torn up." Wolf winced away when she said that. A meat locker? Great, what else? "I hope to see both of you again soon." She shook Tony's hand and then Wolf's. He looked at her apologetically and then smiled.   
  
"Thank you." Wolf said sincerely.   
  
She smiled and nodded. Waving to them she headed back into town, leaving Wolf and Tony in front of the barn. After a moment, Tony sighed.  
  
"Well, come on, let's get going. We gotta get that last crystal." Tony led the way our of town as Wolf followed behind. Now the storm clouds were coming closer and the sun was beginning to fade as more and more clouds would pass by. Wolf could smell the faint ran that was coming as a gust of wind swept over them.   
  
They quickly went through the village and came back out onto the path they had entered through. As they walked further on down the road, it began to drizzle and even though they were covered by the trees above them, raindrops still crept through the leaves. It became darker, and seemed that the sun had just set, not risen.   
  
The rain came down harder and faster. Thunder boomed in the distance and lightning lit up the morning sky. It was very odd to have such a storm in the middle of a seemingly beautiful day, but nothing was ever predictable or normal in the Nine Kingdoms. Tony put his coat over his head to keep from getting wet, but Wolf didn't flinch. He hated the rain, but at that moment he didn't care. It wasn't important to him whether or not he got wet.   
  
Tony stopped in the road and brought his bag over in front of him as he opened it and brought out the silver plated mirror. Both looked at the mirror and sighed. They were getting closer, another step had been reached, but time was running short.   
  
The more he thought about how much time they had lost, the more he was reminded of how he had failed Virginia in so many ways. He had lost her in the cottage, what seemed so long ago, and he had made them lose precious time due to his damn cycle.   
  
She was counting on him to help her, he knew she was. As long as he was breathing, he would do everything he could to save her and the cub. Without them, he had no reason to continue on. It hurt him more and more as every second went by that he didn't know they were safe. They had to get this crystal and find her, if they didn't, he would lose everything.  
  
Tony spoke to the mirror, snapping Wolf violently out of his thoughts again. "Mirror, where is the last mirror?" They both watched as the mirror glowed a bright shade of white and began to swirl and mix. The sand-like texture rippled and cascaded down like a river and then began to slow down.   
  
"A hard task to perform to get crystal three, in a land where everything that you see is green. Where envy and jealousy pollute the air, you'll admit things you didn't know were there. You must solve a problem and set things right, then the crystal will be near and in sight." With that, the mirror did a final swirl and was still, reflecting Tony and Wolf staring at it, completely perplexed. Both pulled away and Tony gently put it back in his sack.   
  
Without a further thought, Wolf turned to Tony. "I know where it is."   
  
Tony didn't quite understand the poem and was extremely glad to know that Wolf did. "Where?" He asked anxiously.  
  
He sighed. "The Deadly Swamp."  



	23. 

After about three hours of walking through the forest after leaving the small town, Wolf was begging to smell the musty and foul stench of the Deadly Swamp. The road was bumpy and there were holes everywhere. At times, Wolf and Tony would lose their footing and nearly fall. They finally came up to a crossroad.  
  
"I recognize this." Tony said as he pointed to the sign they approached. One way pointing to the right said '39 miles to Prince Wendell's Castle,' whereas the other read; '13 miles to Prince Wendell's Castle' and pointed to the left.   
  
"How?" Wolf asked, bewildered that he would know something like that.  
  
"This is where Virginia and I came through last time." He glanced at the lush fields to the right of them and then to the left, down the depressing, endless tunnel of trees.  
  
Wolf nodded and followed Tony to the left of the sign and into the thicker forest. It was darker and quieter. The chirps of birds and the rays from the sun were long gone. All that remained was faint sound of moaning and swamp water lapping up against the rocks.   
  
The green haze whirled around them, trapping them inside the swamp. They could barely see ten feet in front of them, and what they could see was always just a mass of green moss and cloudy water. The water glistened from what little sun came through the treetops in the small pools scattered around the swamp.   
  
There were fallen branches and rotting logs everywhere they walked. Limp vines hung from the top where they were wrapped around tree limbs and were covered in brown mold and dead leaves. As they entered the swamp, everything seemed lifeless at the entrance, but the further they went in, the more that the plant life had seemed to flourish.   
  
It was cold and seemed to drop in degrees the further they went in. The green fog and smoke shot down from about and hovered over the pools of water. Everything was dark and covered in leaves, preventing anything from keeping a steady trail or leaving marks to find the way out. Once Wolf and Tony would pass certain landmarks, Wolf would look back and find they had drastically changed since when they passed. No wonder it was called the Deadly Swamp, once you entered, you weren't supposed to leave alive.  
  
"Oh, do me a favor," Tony began as he stopped walking. "If I begin to sing 'A Whiter Shade of Pale,' get me outta here, ok?" Again, Wolf nodded, not really sure why that was so important or why Tony had brought it up. Even if it did happen, how was Wolf going to be able to get him out? The way they had come in was completely different now. "Oh, and watch out for these flying little brats with wings, they can be a real problem, don't ask any favors of them either."  
  
Wolf was begging to get annoyed. Tony was acting like he knew every little secret of the swamp and Wolf knew nothing. Tony had only spent perhaps two hours in the Swamp and he acted like he had been living there for years. Who was the one who knew about the Gypsies? Who knew all about the Huntsman and the Disenchanted forest? He did! So why was he listening to warnings from a guy who had lived in the Nine Kingdoms for a month and he had for his whole life?   
  
Wolf didn't nod that time, he simply returned a small glare, but Tony didn't notice. They walked on deeper into the swamp, passing more and more pools of water and finding that the plants had almost completely taken over. Ferns sprouted up everywhere; shrubs and trees had grown so close together, they blocked the path on several accounts.   
  
Wolf thought that he was going to gag. The stench from the water and the mold and moss were becoming far too horrible for him to stand. Tony didn't have smelling as acute as Wolf did, but he could even notice that the air was rank with rotting foliage and the scum from the water. How was he able to drink that last time and not immediately throw up?  
  
Wolf and Tony came up to a crossroad and were silent for a moment as both thought of a way to go. The route to the left seemed brighter and full of more life, whereas the route to the right was dark and dank.   
  
"Let's go left." Tony said as he began to take a stride to the left.   
  
"No, I think we should head right." Wolf stared off in that direction, studying it carefully.  
  
"Why right? It's gloomy down there. Let's go this way, I'm sure that the crystal's down here." Tony declared and started walking again, expecting Wolf to follow.  
  
"Tony, you don't know everything that happens here!" Wolf shouted as he felt his temper burst. "If you go down there, I'm sure it's a trap! When you go the way that is the least appealing, it has what you're looking for."  
  
"I don't buy it. Let's go this way." Again Tony began to walk.   
  
"Tony, just listen to me. It's a trap, I'm sure of it. This path looks bad so it discourages travelers from going down here." He didn't know a better way of telling him. Was Tony daft or something?   
  
Tony watched Wolf and tried to understand why that was a better route. The path to the left was bright and for some strange reason, was calling to Tony. He felt a strong surge of energy drawing him to it.   
  
"No! I'm going this way Wolf!" Tony yelled and began to head down the path.   
  
"Fine! Go! Don't come crying to me when you get lost!" Wolf called out to him as he got further and further away from him. Tony was wrong, he was right, just like always.   
  
"Let's go left' he says," Wolf muttered to himself as he walked on down the path. "I'll show him. A wolf is always right when it comes to instincts, he's not a wolf so how can he be right?" He mused.   
  
He walked down the dark path and took very little notice of where he was heading. He walked on, not paying attention to his surroundings or where the road had split on several times. He didn't care anymore since everything changed once his back was turned so didn't give a second thought. It didn't matter to him, he was sure that he was heading the right way.  
  
The potholes had ceased and soon he was walking on a very smooth path. Dead leaves covered it, but it was easy walking. The smell was becoming unbearable and he felt like he was about to vomit, but it soon changed when he turned a corner and froze.   
  
"Cripes." He said breathlessly. "The Swamp Witch's cottage."   
  
Wolf swallowed. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. Could he pass it and continue on? Or was this part of the riddle, was supposed to enter? Whatever the case was, Wolf found himself walking closer and closer to the cottage, almost as if he was in a trance. He scratched his temple and walked up the path to the door.   
  
The outside of the cottage was small and there was a garden of cracked and clouded mirrors. They were dull and dirty, covered in vines and were positioned in the water that went around the entire cottage like a moat. There was a dim light that was shining from inside the house from the small window mounted on the door. The entrance of the cottage was arched and placed all the way around were spikes that shot through and nearly blocked the door.   
  
Wolf placed his hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it. What he expected to find, he didn't know. Virginia never told him much about what happened when she was here, so it was a mystery. All his childhood stories suddenly came flying back into his mind as the echoes of his friends taunting him, trying to scare him with their stories flooded his head.   
  
He drew in a breath and turned the knob. Ducking to step in, he walked inside the cottage and found a single table in the middle and a candle that was lit. When he closed the door, the candlelight went out.   
  
"Hello?" Wolf called out. When the words left his lips, he wasn't sure if he would want to take them back. There was no answer. "Anyone here?" His confidence returned. Surely that when they defeated the Evil Queen, the Swamp Witch would fade away too. Wouldn't she?  
  
Wolf looked around for some matches, but found nothing. The room was completely empty. Who lit the candle? Why did it go out when he came in? Wolf shook off his doubts and questions and walked slowly around the room, his senses fully alert. He was about to leave when he heard something.  
  
"Come to me." A woman's voice said. Wolf didn't move but his eyes searched the room frantically for the owner. He caught sight of the cellar doors and locked his gaze on them. "Come to me." It repeated.  
  
Run. Run. Run! His mind shouted. Every inch of instinct he had in him was begging him to leave. This was an evil, horrible place and he could feel that he was in danger. Still, he couldn't lift his eyes off the doors. They were rusted and the wood was cracked and rotted. It was covered completely with white cobwebs that stretched from the handles to the hinges.   
  
"Come to me, Wolf." The old voice said. The mention of his name startled him to no end. His heart was pumping rapidly in his chest and his hands began to shake. He couldn't control it anymore. The voice was driving him crazy. How did it know his name? He violently grabbed the dusty handles and threw the doors open in one swift moment. Taking another deep breath, he tightened his fists and took a step down into the cellar.   
  
  
  
  
  



	24. 

Tony trudged on through the misty swamp. Only about ten minutes had passed since he had last seen Wolf, but to him, it felt like hours. He was beginning to regret his decision to go on alone. What if Wolf had been right? What if he was walking into a trap? He shook it off, not letting go of his stubbornness, and concluded that he was right and Wolf was wrong.   
  
"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Tony mumbled to himself. "who would want to go that way? It's probably a dead end or something." He scoffed and continued walking deeper and deeper into the thick and dismal swamp.  
  
What he thought was the light at the end of the tunnel was a mirage, it was never supposed to come. Still, Tony was optimistic and believed that in no time, he would be prancing out of the swamp, and then he'd show Wolf who was right.   
  
But, wait. Wasn't there something he was supposed to remember? Something he was supposed to get? He stopped in the road and pondered the thought for a moment, but quickly shrugged it off. He, unknowingly, was becoming prey to one of the Deadly Swamp's traps. He was forgetting everything but his envy and greed.  
  
"I'll show him a thing or two." He scoffed again as he stomped on, not even realizing the sign he had passed, which read, 'Turn back now, or you won't come back at all' Too caught up in his strive for success he wandered further and further off the path and onto a more treacherous road.   
  
Tony stopped. "Where the hell am I?" He asked aloud.   
  
Almost disappointed when there came no reply, he sighed. For some reason he thought that some magical being would come to his rescue once again, but there was nothing. Suddenly, he began to waver and his balance was thrown off. To stop a threatening tumble, Tony went to the ground and sat there for a moment, regaining his composure. His eyelids were becoming very heavy and his mind was clouded.  
  
"No..." He moaned. "I can't...." He yawned. "fall asleep." Remembering very well what had happened the last time he had fallen under the spells of the Swamp, he shook his head and rubbed his face with his hands roughly, trying his best to stay awake.  
  
Strangely, he began to remember what had happened the last time. He started to pull back the memories. Almost drunkenly, he started to hum 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' as he recalled the singing mushrooms.  
  
Almost as if they were in front of him, singing that song softly to him, he stretched out his arm and fell sideways. More and more events came rolling back to him, his mind pulling on his forgotten memories to save him, to make him realize what was happening.   
  
The scene was the same. He was drifting into another fatal dream, just as he had before. The ground felt the same beneath him, the foggy green mist surrounded him once more, and he began to doze off. A soft vine crept from below the ground and neatly wrapped itself around Tony's ankle. More and more sprouted up and coiled around him, trapping him tighter and tighter.   
  
"It's the same trap I fell into before," He thought weakly as his eyes shut. "the same as it was when I was here with..." His eyes snapped open. "Virginia!"   
  
Everything came back to him as if he had been hit by a train. He flew up and immediately started to yank off the vines and throw them hatefully to the ground. He looked around and remembered what had happened. "Oh crap," He muttered to himself as he took in his surroundings. Taking the best looking path, he ran off. "I have to find Wolf."   
  
  
Wolf, on the other hand, was far from falling asleep. His eyes were wide open as he swallowed and took another step into the cellar. The water sprayed lightly from above and slid down the rough rocks that made the side walls. From above, the cracks in the ceiling were dripping from the water in the swamp and onto the slick concrete stairs. Drip. Drip. Drip.  
  
Each time a drop fell onto a stair, it echoed the entire passageway and into the tomb. Wolf knew she was in there, he could feel it. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he came upon a metal gate covered completely in cobwebs. That is, except for where they had been rubbed off. One hand print, he noticed, in the middle, on the bar.   
  
He put his hand on it. "Virginia." He whispered softly. She had been there. Doing the same as she had once done, he pushed the rusted iron gate open. It went to the opposing side with a loud creak before loudly banging against the wall. Wolf winced, almost as if he were afraid he was waking someone up.  
  
He walked forward. In the middle of the room was the Swamp Witch. She laid in her brown coffin, face up, her remains, surprisingly, still intact considering how long it seemed she had been dead. Her entire body was like the cottage, covered in cobwebs, spiders crawling over her. The smell was terrible, completely repulsive. It took most of Wolf's might not to run out the tomb and back outside, but his expression remained impassive. His face was blank. He didn't want to give the Swamp Witch the glory of seeing his fear, even though it was flowing off of him very strongly.  
  
"Come closer." She spoke, he mouth barely not moving at all, her eyes shut. Her crispy white hair seemed to mix with the webs as it reached her shoulders and her gangly teeth stuck out of her mouth as she spoke. Wolf froze and didn't move.   
  
After another moment, she spoke again. "Come to me Wolf. Come closer to me." Wolf shook his head when he couldn't find the voice to speak. "Do I frighten you?" She seemed to snicker a bit after that question, but still Wolf didn't move.  
  
"I know of what you search for," She stated bluntly. Wolf's eyes flew open wider and he mouth hung. How would he be able to get it from her? "And I can give it to you. It's very near here."   
  
Finally, Wolf spoke. "Where is it?" He asked as he took another step closer. He still remained six to seven feet away from her, and didn't want to get closer than that. The smell was making him feel faint, it was overpowering him terribly.  
  
"How about a deal?" She laughed lightly at this and waited for Wolf's response.   
  
"What kind of a deal?" He asked cautiously.   
  
"I tell you where the crystal is, and you give me something in return." She said.   
  
"And ... what's that?" He asked, dreading the answer.   
  
Her eyes opened and she turned her gaze towards Wolf, glaring at him menacingly. "Your soul."  



	25. An Escape?

Virginia wiped away the rest of her remaining tears. She kept reminding herself that she had to be strong, she couldn't lose hope, but her thread of hope was becoming thinner and weaker. She wasn't sure how she would be able to get out of there before they would do anything to her, or her baby.   
  
The previous night she had noticed the full moon and immediately thought of Wolf. She never wanted to believe Ann's words about his death, but every moment that passed and he did not come to her rescue, like he had in the past, she grew weary. The way Ann had sung that song as she left sent chills down her spine. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't. But, as much as she tried to talk herself into it, the more she fell victim to Ann's claim.  
  
Virginia felt that more time had passed than it actually had, her time was completely out of order and she didn't even know how many days had passed since they brought her there. Most of the time she sat, her legs drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She hadn't seen the Trolls or Ann since they paid her their last visit, and frankly, Virginia was happy that they were out of her way.  
  
It was incredibly frustrating to sit in there. No one to talk to, nothing to do, and placed in the hands of a crazy shepherdess bent on revenge from her spoiled sister's death. Virginia wanted to scream. She wanted to rip her hair out and knock some sense into Ann. The bottled emotions she held in her were coming out. Again, the tears began to fall. She blamed it on the pregnancy, but deep down, she knew that it was too overwhelming.   
  
Hours passed and still there was no sign of anyone. The same dripping of water down the corridor was giving her a headache and the hunger she felt in her stomach made it worse. Wringing her hands, Virginia stood up and looked outside through the iron bars.   
  
This place seemed centuries old, maybe she would be lucky enough to have weak bars. She went over to the small cot in the corner of her cell. Not knowing what had previously been on it, she herself didn't really like the idea of sleeping there. It smelled terrible and the mattress was stained and torn.   
  
She placed her hands under the main frame of the cot and gently began to slide it towards the window. A loud, ear piercing screech bounced off the walls as the corner legs scraped across the concrete. Virginia winced and instinctively dropped the bed, only resulting in a dull thud that joined the scrachings in an echo.   
  
"Nice going, Virginia." She quietly scolded herself.   
  
The cot didn't seem that heavy, cheap piece of metal was all that it was really. She had to lift it, she decided. Taking a deep breath and exhaling it out quickly, she lifted the same side once again and rested it on her thigh. Stretching her arms out, she picked up the other side and balanced herself out. She shifted her weight and finally had the sides evenly held in her hands. She quietly and carefully made her way to the window.   
  
She gently put the cot on the floor and barely made a noise. Satisfied, Virginia licked her lips and stepped onto the couch. It creaked, much to her dismay, but only a little. She balanced herself on the mattress and reached for the bars. When her hands touched them, she felt relief. Warmed from the sun, the black bars were a soothing touch compared to the cold and empty cell.  
  
Freedom. She never realized how great being outside actually was. She couldn't believe Wolf had spent so much time in Snow White Memorial Prison, it must've drove him crazy. Just the quick thought of Wolf made her eyes water once more. She removed her hand from the bar and quickly brushed the tears away.   
  
"Now's not the time Virginia!" She thought as she put her hand back on the bar. Just four bars blocked her from the freedom she longed for, the safety and the comfort. Her adrenaline was pumping and her heart was racing. She could do this, she knew it. At the closer view she now had, she realized that the bars were really rusted and worn. Not to mention how thin they actually were. Were they expecting her to escape or something?   
  
She smiled despite her current surroundings, there was hope, she could do it. She took another deep breath and pulled. Her muscles strained and tightened, a small groan escaped her throat as she clenched her fists around the bars harder. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, they actually began to bend!   
  
She broke her grasp and caught her breath. She shook her hands out and cracked her knuckles, determined to get out of there. She took the iron bars in her hands again and pulled. She summoned all her strength to separating the bars, and it seemed to be working. Only a little bit more and she knew she could squeeze through. She arms were shaking and her knuckles had turned white.   
  
Suddenly she heard the worst noise imaginable. Foot steps. They were coming her way. Again, the horrid rhythm echoed in her mind. One. Two. One. Two.  
  
"No! Damn it!" She muttered out loud. The steps didn't belong to a Troll, they were more defined and somewhat cultured, and very womanly. Ann was coming. Virginia mumbled a few choice curse words and began to pull again. Time was a precious thing she didn't have, the footsteps were coming closer.   
  
The iron creaked as she yanked at them with all her might. Her forehead glistened with sweat in the warm sunlight that streaked across her face. Her heart was pumping viciously in her chest and she could feel her arms began to tremble, not from being overworked, but from fear.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" Ann's bittersweet voice sounded from behind Virginia in surprise. Damn! She was out of time.   
  
Virginia glanced at Ann who watched her from behind the door. Surprisingly, she noticed Ann wasn't opening her cell, which meant one thing. She didn't have the keys! Feeling another wave of hope flood over her, she ignored Ann and pulled once more at the bars.   
  
"Stop that!" Ann commanded from behind her. Again, Virginia ignored her powerless demand. The bars bent further and further. Just a little more. "Burly!" Ann shouted down the corridor.   
  
Virginia's breathing was ragged and her legs shook from under her. This was her only chance, she had to make it work. Hoping she had separated the bars enough, she took the chance and stuck her arms out the cell.   
  
She grabbed onto the grass. So warm and lush, soft and comforting, it was what she longed for. She dug her hands into the dirt and pulled herself up through the window. She heard shouting from behind her, but blocked it all out. She could smell the fresh air and felt the sunlight as the rays washed over her.   
  
"I made it!" She thought happily as she pulled herself through. She turned over and faced the cell again as she brought her legs up. Her left leg was caught on a stray nail by her sock. She yanked on it roughly and pulled it through the opening.   
  
She stood up and turned around to her freedom, only to be extremely disappointed. In front of her, Burly, Bluebell and Blabberwart all stood, their slingshots aimed at her. Each one loaded with a large amount of pink powder.   
  
"No." She thought dimly as she shook her head in denial. Her hopes had gone out like a flame in a bitter wind. Everything was over. She heard the triumphant calls from Ann who was quickly approaching. She turned her attention to her and felt nothing but rage and hate.  
  
"You're going to pay for that." Ann stated harshly as she came closer.   
  
Virginia felt something snap in her. She took off for Ann, determined to kill her, to make her pay for what she had done and was going to do. A hard thump hit her back, like someone had punched her. She tried to continue on, but multiple shots hit her and forced her down. The last thing she felt was her body fall against the warm grass, which she had terribly longed for, feeling it could be the last time she'd ever see it.  
  



	26. A Consuming Power

Wolf backed up instinctively, his eyes wide and his mouth a terrible cotton-ball dry. The Swamp Witch's glare did not waver, nor did she take her evil grin off her lips. Wolf slightly shook his head from the left to the right, but he couldn't pull his eyes away from hers, or find the strength to run up the stairs.   
  
He wanted to torch this evil place and destroy everything within, but as gruesome as his thoughts were, he couldn't even make himself move. His legs felt glued to the floor and his vocal cords felt detached somehow. His eyes didn't even seem to blink as he stared at her for what seemed days.   
  
"Give your soul to me, Wolf" She said sweetly and softly. She raised her hand, ever so slightly, and motioned for him to come closer. Without realizing what was happening, his feet began to move. Was she doing that? He saw his feet move from under him, but didn't feel it.  
  
"I can give you all my power, and we can rule the Kingdoms." She tried to persuade him. Wolf's head shook as his instincts crept in and tried to pull him away. It was like Wolf and the Swamp Witch were connected by a chain; a chain that was becoming thicker and stronger with each passing moment.  
  
"No! You're evil, just like Christine was!" He shouted as he tried to make his feet move away from her.   
  
The Swamp Witch did not reply, but only laughed a deep throaty chuckle that was empty and hollow. "She was only my tool. My stepping stone that led me to you. Without her, Wolf, you would still be rotting away in that prison." She stated bluntly.  
  
Of course, that was not the first time that he had thought about that, but he never wanted to admit to it. He hated to think, that from the depths of evil, was he freed. He couldn't respond as he was struck with a powerful bolt of truth. He owed his escape to the apprentice of this very witch.   
  
When Wolf did not answer, she continued. "Do you believe that she picked you, on a whim? Hmm?" Again when there was no answer, she continued to weave her rope through him and pull him closer. "Quite the opposite I think." She mused. "I had her pick you to be her's, made her give you the power you craved, knowing that even once she was gone, I would see you again."  
  
"Why me?" Wolf asked, barely a whisper. He was surprised to hear his own voice so frail and weak, almost as if her presence was drawing the life out of him.   
  
"You know the answer to that yourself. You demand respect and power, you desire it. You want people to fear you, as you have them." What she failed to mention was that she knew she could use his drive for power for her own purposes. She also knew that given the right motivation, he was as easy to control as Christine was, maybe even easier.  
  
There was a deathly pause for a moment, neither of them stirred anymore from their positions. Wolf was barely a foot away from her and her eyes still held his. As hard as he tried to turn away, she clung to him like a leech. "Take my power, and gain what you have yearned for. Get the respect you deserve and take the lives of those who took it from you."  
  
Wolf's head was clouded and confused. Deep inside him he wanted to do it. Rather than a small part of his mind that wanting it, there was a large part. He wanted to make those farmers pay for the death's of his parents by making them burn slowly on a stake, just as they had. He wanted to make the people of the villages that chased him away cower beneath him. He wanted power.   
  
"You can make the entire human race suffer and die away. You can rule the Kingdoms." She said. Her hand reached out and clasped his.   
  
The dried, bony fingers entwined around Wolf's. The dusty hand held tightly as Wolf tried to make himself pull away, but saw that he didn't even flinch. A strong light hazed over his hand and he felt a small, but strong, force of energy flow in him. He instantly recoiled it and held it with the other. Strangely, he found that it felt good.  
  
Sensing his desire for more and seeing how he enjoyed it, she spoke again. "That is only the beginning of my power. Imagine if you had it all."  
  
Wolf couldn't fight the urge, for the first time in a while, he smiled at the thought of all the possibilities. Drawn between good and evil, it was actually a difficult choice for him to make. He had been on the side of evil once before and he knew, the rewards were endless.  
  
But, those same rewards were empty and had no meaning in them. They were never hard earned or really worth receiving. The best reward he had ever gotten was when he was on the side of good, and won Virginia's heart.   
  
Wolf took another step back, the Swamp Witch, obviously bewildered by this, watched with fascination. He couldn't do this, not to Virginia, not to anyone. If he took that power, he would be crossing an evil line from which there was no return. A line he had barely saved himself from before.   
  
Virginia had lost her mother due to that same dark line, and he'd be damned if he was going to put her through it again. He broke the Swamp Witch's embrace, letting her hand sink back into the tomb. Her eyes, finally wavered and darted around the room as if it were caving in. The chain that had grown into a thick death trap within minutes, broke and crumbled to dust. Wolf swallowed and backed up closer to the gate.   
  
"Where are you going, my Wolf?" She asked, he voice was still calm, but shook a bit, knowing that he wasn't going to take it. "I know you want this power. You need it, and I can give it to you. Think of the endless possibilities!"  
  
"It's not worth it. Not when someone needs you." He said, looking down on her hatefully. This woman had already hurt his beloved Virginia once, he wasn't about to let her do it again. Virginia needed him, and when her mother gnawed a hole in her heart before, he knew he'd be there to protect her and fill the hole once again.   
  
"Forget what you know. Come to me." There was desperation in her voice. This was her last chance to gain her power back and take the throne of the Kingdoms. Her last chance to rule over those pitiful Kings and Queens with a storm of hate and vengeance. To make them pay for her suffering would be the greatest thing in the world. She wasn't about to let her last chance walk out because of some pitiful puppy love.   
  
"I can't accept it." He shook his head. "I'm leaving right now." He said defiantly, more to himself than to her. He made his legs move with every ounce of strength he had, refusing to even think of what she promised him. He turned around and made his way for the gate. As his hand reached out to it, the old iron gate slammed back in front of him and against the latch, so loud and fast he winced away.   
  
He stared at the lock as chain coiled into the bars and clung to them tightly. He ran over to the bars and yanked on them to open, but heat emanated from the latch as the metal fused together. He looked up and saw the wooden doors that led to the cellar slam back, closing him inside. Two doors now blocked his exit, cripes!  
  
As if things couldn't be worse, he heard the barricade piece slide across the wood, slow and tauntingly, before finally resting securely over the handles. Wolf turned around slowly back towards the Swamp Witch. Her eyes met his again and she smiled.  
  
"You're not going anywhere."  



	27. The Connection

Tony tripped over another root that was sticking out of the ground. It seemed to him that they purposely shot out of the ground and tried to make him fall. He shook off his imagination and blamed his clumsiness on lack of sleep. It had seemed years since he last slept, every night since their quest had started, his sleep was less and less.  
  
His eyelids felt like heavy weights that were pulling his eyes shut, determined to make him fall asleep again. Ohh, to sleep, to find a comfortable spot and curl up, not needing to worry about time or work, perfect.   
  
No! He needed to stay awake, he couldn't fall into the same trap twice. Tony shook his head and ran his hands up and down his face rapidly and wished for a cup of coffee. A nice steaming cup of Maxwell House and the morning paper, what a wonderful morning that was.   
  
Being a janitor, he never really got to enjoy a Saturday morning. While normal people were sleeping in or have a large morning breakfast, his was limited to a stale bagel and a beer, working on the elevator or fixing the boiler. He didn't really care for coffee, but it did the trick at keeping him up and alert. He needed that now more than ever.   
  
He trudged on through the swamp. His feet felt like they were buckets of cement that were hardening with each wavering step. Determined not to fall asleep to his death, Tony decided to really concentrate on the matter at hand and then to think about the huge king size bed that was waiting for him at the castle.  
  
With his eyes, half-mast, Tony could swear he saw a small cottage up ahead. Passing it off as a mirage, he walked on, unknowingly towards the cottage. The path he was on curved around and brought him to the front of the house.   
  
He paid little attention to the garden of moss-covered mirrors and the mist that seemed to only loom over the house and instead walked closer to the door. He suddenly remembered what Virginia had told him, something about Acorn being in there. Tony smiled a dopey smile, thinking he could sleep peacefully in there, at least knowing someone in this forsaken place he could trust.  
  
He tightened his hand and hovered it over the door, preparing to knock when he heard a deafening slam from inside. Obviously someone was home, good.   
  
Without a second thought, Tony opened the door and stepped inside. There was a single candle that had been blown out sitting in the middle of the room on a small oak table. He noted the fact that the smoke from the candle hung in the air, proving it had just been put out not to long ago.   
  
He heard a voice from the cellar. It was muffled from the doors, but it was high pitched, it wasn't the voice of Acorn. Tony, now fully awake once more, walked closer to the doors. A long board had been slid under the handles, preventing it from opening.  
  
"Something strange is going on here." Tony quietly muttered to himself. No one could possibly lock themselves inside somewhere while the lock was on the outside.   
  
Quietly, he slid the board off the cellar doors and gently placed it onto the floor. He opened the right door, just enough so he could hear into the cellar clearly. Just his luck, no one was speaking.   
  
"Just look at yourself," Tony thought. "Eavesdropping!" He scolded himself and was about to close the door when he heard an unmistakable voice. Wolf's voice.  
  
"No! Just leave me alone!" Wolf had yelled. His voice seemed far away and distant even though he was practically screaming.   
  
"This would be so much easier if you would only agree." A feminine voice called to him. Tony felt a fire burning, he knew, he knew it was the Swamp Witch. The one those fairies had been talking about. He also knew from the dripping sweetness in the voice that it was the same Witch that took his Christine from him. Feeling a fire build in him, he pulled the door open and went inside.  
  
  
"I won't do it." Wolf said as he waved his hands, dismissing the subject. He turned his attention back to the iron bars that blocked his escape. Once he got through those, breaking the wooden doors would be nothing.  
  
"My Wolf. Why deny yourself all what you know you deserve?" Her voice rang in his ears, it seemed so loud and deafening, when it was merely a whisper. Why couldn't she just shut up!? All he wanted was his creamy dreamy girl back, and instead he was getting this?  
  
"Well, it is your fault," He thought as he pulled on the bars, one by one, testing each one for a weakness. "You just had to come down here!"   
  
"No! Just leave me alone!" Wolf yelled instead at her over his shoulder. He gazed up at the cellar doors and saw that one of them was open. Someone was up there! Was it Tony? His hopeful thoughts were deterred as the Swamp Which called for him again.  
  
"This would be so much easier if you would only agree." Wolf noticed how much alike she sounded to Christine. Both used a bittersweet tone that broke his spirit and gave it to them. It was nearly impossible to refuse. "Say it. Say you will be mine."  
  
"No!" Tony shouted as he sprinted down the stairs and over to the barred gate. He glanced inside and saw the green misted tomb, but focused on Wolf who was frantically trying to get out.   
  
"Tony!" Wolf yelled gratefully. "You gotta get me outta here!" He said desperately as he grabbed Tony's jacket, refusing to let him go.   
  
"Don't worry, I'll have you out in no time." Tony ran his hands over the melted latch and tested the bars. That was just the thing, Wolf didn't have time.  
  
"I already did that, it's no good. Can't you get a bar or something? We could bend them." Wolf suggested hopefully.  
  
"You will never escape me, My Wolf." The Swamp Witch laughed. "Never."  
  
Wolf tried his best to ignore her, but she was like a deadly Siren, weaving her song of promise and hope into his heart and pulling him to his fate. He turned back to her and looked in her eyes, the same way he did when he held her hand. That was his mistake, he could feel it, and knew it was too late to correct it.  
  
"You remember the power you felt, don't you? I know you want more. Come to me my son, and take all the power you crave." She extended her hand to him again and made it glow a silky white. Wolf's eyes lit up and he turned himself around, dropping his grip on Tony.   
  
Tony watched the entire thing in awe, he shook his head swiftly and brought himself back to the task at hand. He couldn't let Wolf fall victim to her, he had lost someone to her before, he wasn't going to stand by and do it again.   
  
"Wolf stop! Snap yourself out of it!" He could see the effects of his words on Wolf, his steps were shaky and uneven, he was trying to bring himself back. "Come on Wolf, come back! Don't listen to her!"   
  
Wolf reached out his hand and brought it closer to hers. Tony's words instantly cleared his head and he slumped forward, out of his trance. In that minor step he took forward, he felt a stinging sensation on his fingertips.   
  
He looked at his hand and saw it touching the Swamp Witch's, both hands illuminated by the soft white haze. After realizing what was happening, he instantly recoiled and flew back to the bars. Tony hadn't noticed Wolf's connection with her, he instead was working on the gate.  
  
Suddenly, without either of them even touching it, the latch cleaned over and renewed to the shiny black metal. Both Wolf and Tony looked at it incredulously, Tony grabbed it and opened it, before it would have a chance to melt again.   
  
Tony and Wolf ran up to the cellar doors, but before reaching them, Wolf, and only Wolf, could hear the Swamp Witch's low chuckling and her faintly calling to Wolf. "You can run all you like, you're already mine."  
  
Wolf angrily yanked the board, slammed the cellar doors shut and slid the board under the handles. He stared down at the doors as if they were alive and were about to attack him. He grabbed Tony's arm and pulled him out of the cottage.   
  
Tony shut the door and turned to Wolf whose expression was still and unreadable. Blank. Tony watched Wolf with a perplexed expression.   
  
"Wolf? What's wrong?" Tony asked. When Wolf finally brought his eyes to Tony's, he shakily drew in a heavy breath.  
  
He disregarded the question and shook his head with guilt. "What have I done?"   
  
  
  
  



	28. A Growing Hole

"What are you talking about Wolf?" Tony asked as he took a deep breath, thankful to be clear of the Swamp Witch.   
  
Wolf pondered whether or not he should tell Tony. Maybe it was nothing; maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him. But then, what if it wasn't? He had felt the energy in her hand, he had felt a strong tingling feeling flood his body, and yet, he didn't want to admit to anything. The proof was there but he refused to acknowledge it.   
  
"It's nothing, never mind." Wolf brushed his hands and dropped the subject. He quickly walked away from the house and back onto the rough path. He was more than happy to leave it in the past for good. That old witch was just playing with him, she didn't mean it, she couldn't. But, then, what if she did?   
  
"All right," Tony shrugged. Wolf could feel his sense of insecurity in him, but it didn't matter, Tony not believing him was the least of his worries. "Well, we better find that last crystal, we've already wasted so much time."  
  
"Time." Wolf mumbled to himself, playing with the word in his mouth. He quickly whirled around and faced Tony. "How much time do we have left?" Wolf wanted the answer that second and wasn't willing to wait longer to find out. Less than two seconds had passed and he asked again. "How much time do we have!?"  
  
The expression that Wolf had, filled Tony's face as he remembered the same thing. They had been so worried about their time, taking care of it, trying not to waste it, but they had forgotten why.  
  
Of course they wanted to rescue Virginia as soon as possible, but the mirror had completely left their minds subconsciously. "I don't know, I-- I've lost track." Tony stuttered, ashamed. He felt that keeping track of time was his job, and somehow he had let everyone down. He cursed himself for not paying better attention; he should've made sure he knew how much time remained.  
  
"Ok, ok," Wolf licked his lips and shut his eyes. He backtracked their steps and every single night. The full moon night seemed like ten, much less than one, but he knew how long had really passed. "How long have we been in here?"   
  
"I dunno," Tony shrugged. "Not more than a day."  
  
Wolf's eyes lit up and he inhaled a deep breath. "No, no, no!" He shouted, more to himself than to Tony.  
  
"What!? What is it?"  
  
"The Swamp. It can play tricks on your mind. It makes you think that barely any time has passed, and then, before you know it, a week has gone by." Wolf shook his head and sighed deeply. "As far as I can tell, we've got two days left."  
  
"Two days!?" Tony shouted. This was crazy. How were they supposed to get the crystal and make it back to Wendell's castle within two days? "This is crazy, how are we going to do all that before our two days are up?"  
  
"With a little luck?" Wolf mused, trying to lighten the mood. He was just as unhappy as Tony was, but if he kept their minds off their time limit, perhaps they would be more constructive. He didn't want to keep thinking about if they didn't make it in time. He didn't want to arrive too late only to find the mirror locked forever. Too much was at stake; he wanted to think positive.   
  
"With a litt--,"Tony began to mock him, but found himself too upset to do even that. "Listen, my daughter's life is at risk here, and you're talking about luck!? You could try and say something useful!" Tony felt himself shouting, but he didn't think it was loud enough. He wanted to vent his anger so badly, but at the time, Wolf was the only one there.  
  
"Hey! Don't talk that way to me!" Wolf yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Tony. "Don't you think I care about her!? She's not just your daughter, but she's my mate and the mother of my cub!" Wolf shouted equally as loud back to Tony.   
  
"She was my daughter long before she was your, your, mate, or whatever! I can save her by myself!" Tony felt his pride build up inside him, his feelings had been bottled for too long.   
  
  
"Oh yeah!? Who saved Virginia all those times before!?" Wolf asked, a smug grin on his face.  
  
"Forget about a few instances, how about years of support and being there for her!?" Tony shout back, a smug grin then appeared on his face.   
  
Wolf snorted and chuckled at Tony's attempt. "Puh-lease! She'll need me, more than she'll ever need you! At least I can keep track of time!" Wolf felt himself cross over the wrong line with Tony, he was rubbing his fur the wrong way. For a moment, he wanted to take back his words.   
  
"Oh yeah?" Tony stammered, trying to think of a reasonable comeback, but found only one alternative. "At least I'm completely human." Tony knew that was below the belt, and so what if it wasn't what they were talking about, but it worked, it was opening his anger up. At least, he thought so until he saw Wolf's crestfallen expression.   
  
Wolf felt like he was punched, Tony had never used their differences so harshly to come between them. He felt his fists curl up and his arms tense. Tony saw his hands, and had a strong feeling of what he was planning to do.   
  
"Take it back." Wolf said through clenched teeth, his eyes blazing yellow.  
  
"Why!? I meant it!" His pride once again clouded his normal vision, forcing him to step over the same line Wolf did.  
  
"Take. It. Back." Wolf said again, but much slower, emphasizing every word. He brought his tightly closed fist up to eye level with Tony.  
  
"Go ahead." His was speaking like normal, low and soft, but his voice was cold and empty. "Do it. Do it just like you did the other night."   
  
Wolf immediately dropped his fist and his angered expression. From the intense smell of blood and the bruises Tony had acquired, Wolf knew he had physically beaten him harshly. Tony hadn't moved, he was really expecting Wolf's fist to come into contact with his jaw, but felt nothing.  
  
Tony then noticed how Wolf's eyes were glazed over, filled with sadness and regret. Tony's anger instantly left him, he knew he had pushed it too far, and now he had to make it better.  
  
"I'm sorry Wolf, I really didn't mean it."  
  
"But you did. You did mean it." He paused. "And I deserve to hear every word."   
  
"No, no," Tony said, trying to console Wolf. "It's just, I just want Virginia back, and I guess my stress has gotten to me."   
  
Wolf nodded, perfectly understanding where Tony was coming from, but it didn't make him feel a whole lot better. The words had still come out and made him realize that part of him would be like that, a cold-blooded killer. He didn't want to know, he didn't. He kept telling himself not to ask for fear of an answer.   
  
Before he could shut his mouth, the words had already leapt out. "What happened that night?" Wolf asked Tony, a drastic urge to know crept through his throat and out into the air.   
  
Tony took a deep breath and sighed. "Nothing that you meant." Tony shrugged and started to walk again. Wolf hurried over to him and pulled on Tony's arm, forcing him to stop and face him. That's when he caught it, the same look he saw the morning after the full moon.   
  
Doubt. Anxiety. And mostly, fear. Tony didn't trust Wolf, his eyes didn't meet with his for long anymore, they couldn't. Wolf couldn't blame him either. He could sense the large gap between them, a hole that had been torn since the mission started, since they lost Virginia.   
  
Tony would never admit it, but Wolf knew. He knew that Tony, deep down, blamed Wolf for losing Virginia in the cottage. In his eyes, he could see it. And what made it worse was knowing that he put an even bigger tear into their relationship with the full moon. He didn't need Tony to tell him, he figured it out on his own. The cut in his arm, the bump on Tony's head, everything was pointed to him.   
  
Tony was about to begin to explain what happened that night the best way he could, but Wolf stopped him.  
  
"Tony, just forget I asked. Let's go find the crystal." Wolf started to walk away again. Tony looked down into the green swamp water, and stared back at his own reflection. His hair was dirty and mussed, his eyes had bags under them and his clothes were torn and mud stained.   
  
He was about to leave and follow Wolf, when he caught something shimmering in the water, deep down. It was round and thick, but with tiny ripples in the water, the image was distorted. He stared down at it, trying to figure what it was.   
  
"Hey Wolf, come here." He waved Wolf back over without lifting his gaze off the object in the water. It sparkled and reflected off of a stray sunbeam that had broken through the top canopy and onto the water.   
  
"What?" Wolf asked as he came over, looking into the water as well. "It's just water Tone."   
  
"What is that? Is it a coin or something?" He asked pointing down.   
  
Wolf's face instantly lit up as he saw it far down into the green hazy water. "Huff puff! That's not a coin Tony, that's a crystal."  
  
  



	29. The Third Crystal

"Are you sure?" Tony asked Wolf, squinting further into the water to verify his presumption.   
  
"Yeah, pretty sure." Wolf smiled and began to take off his coat.  
  
"Wha-- wha-- what are you doing?" Tony asked Wolf as he saw preparing to jump in. He was crazy, there had to be another way. It was much further down than it actually looked, he could tell. The water magnified the crystal and made it appear to be higher up in the water than it was.   
  
The crystal was embedded into the side of a rock formation that clung to the side of the hole. There didn't seem to be any bottom to the hole, nor did it have any other promising solutions to getting the crystal. This was the last one, all they needed was right in front of them.   
  
"I'm getting it." Wolf declared simply as he peered into the water and estimated how far down his swim would be, whether or not he'd have enough oxygen.   
  
"No you're not! It's too far down, let's figure out another way to get it." Tony tried to reason and motioned around him, suggesting that they use the resources to get it.   
  
"No time." Wolf shook his head. Before Tony could argue with him again, Wolf took a deep breath and dove into the water hole. Tony dropped to his knees before it and watched as Wolf swam deeper and deeper into the small opening.   
  
The water was freezing cold. Wolf was taken quite aback by this, expecting it to be as warm as the humid air was, and found that it wasn't. He was also surprised to learn that the hole opened up after the surface and into a rather large under water cave.   
  
Plant life was as abundant as it was on ground, every type of plant seeemed to be growning on the side walls and even clung to the rock formations that shot up from the bottom. Presuming that there even was a bottom.   
  
Wolf's attention was not focused on the plants or even how deep the hole was, it was on the crystal from which he never took his eyes off of. It seemed as though he was beging held back, the gem never seemed to come any closer to him whatsoever. Finally, when he thought that his arms would fall off from swimming, he reached the small ledge that the crystal was attached to.   
  
  
Tony watched from above, holding back his hopes, not willing to let them be crushed again. Wolf went further into the water, and Tony found himself rooting Wolf on again, as he did when he climbed the tower in Kissing Town. With his eyes glued on Wolf's figure, he failed to notice the thick green vine that was slowly wrapping around his ankle.  
  
  
Wolf wrapped his hands around the light green crystal, and pulled. It slid out of it's hold very easily, clean and clear. Despite the need for oxygen, he paused under water and gazed at the rock, smiling. He finally had it, the last crystal. He could practically feel Virginia in his arms again.   
  
His smile grew wider as he kicked for the surface. He exploded out of the water, gasping for air. He clutched the side of the hole and pulled himself out and onto the green foilage. Wolf sat with his feet dangling in the water, looking at the crystal with a wide smile.  
  
"See Tone, nothing to it." He said. He stood up and shook off the water. It took him a moment to realize that Tony wasn't there. He searched around the area for him frantically, his eyes watching for any movement. "Tony!" He called out, but got no response.   
  
Then his eyes caught a pool of water across the path from his, the water rippling from movement. He dropped the crystal onto the ground and rushed over to the other hole. He looked down and saw a figure flaring about deep down, being pulled.   
  
Wolf took another deep breath and dove down into the water. His body instantly reacted to the intense cold and he felt a slight tingle on his fingers. Strangly, that pool of water was even colder than the other! Wolf swam harder and faster, but Tony seemed to be flying down, miles ahead of him.   
  
The despiration on Tony's face was horrible, it was one of the worst things he had ever seen. Tony was plunging deeper and deeper down to the bottom, the light was fading and they were slipping into darkness. Tony's arms were streched out for Wolf, trying to reach him.   
  
As Wolf took another stroke, he noticed in horror that Tony had stopped moving all together. His body was still in place, almost frozen in time by the water. As Wolf came closer, he noticed a thick vine was wrapped around his ankle, and so headed for that first.   
  
With a tight grip, he pulled on the vine until he heard a muffled crack as the vine snapped. He grabbed Tony under the arms and swam like mad for the surface. He felt his deprived lungs ache and his heart call for air. Wolf saw small dots dance in front of his eyes and his head became light.   
  
Just when he felt he was about to lose conciousness, the water broke and his heart and lungs filled with oxygen. After taking several breaths, he heaved Tony onto the ground where he quickly followed. Tony looked bad.  
  
His lips were a pale blue and his face was blank and empty. Wolf felt for a pulse, but didn't find one. He tried his best to remember CPR from what he had been taught years ago, but not much was registering. He placed his shaking hands on Tony's chest and pressed down hard.  
  
Wolf immediatly got a response, a low gurgling noise from Tony. "Come on Tone, don't quit on me now!" He shouted as he pressed on his chest again, recieving another gurgle.  
  
"Tony, come on back. You're no good to Virginia like this!" Fear crept in Wolf's voice, afraid that he wouldn't be able to revive him. He had no idea what he was even doing. He tried again, but was much more successful and Tony began to cough up water.   
  
Wolf tilted Tony on his side and let him breathe in heavy gulps of air. Wolf closed his eyes and silently thanked him for being all right.   
  
"Holy Hell! What happened back there?" Tony said, feeling a heavy sense of deja vu. He took another gasp of air and sat up next to Wolf.   
  
"A vine wrapped around your ankle and pulled you down. I barely got you out in time." Wolf said softly. There was a moment of silence between the two, both soaking in what had happened.  
  
"Thank you, Wolf." Tony said, smiling at Wolf.  
  
He shurgged and smiled back. "I owed ya one." Tony and Wolf shared a hearty laugh before raising up and getting the water off of them. Wolf walked over to the crystal where he dropped it. He picked it up and tossed it over to Tony. He held it up and looked it over, a smile spread across his face.   
  
"We did it." Tony said happily. "Now let's go find Virginia."   
  
  
  



	30. Time

Tony and Wolf wasted no more time. They gathered their things and hurried out of the Deadly Swamp. Surprisingly, they found the exit fairly easy, only having to make a few turns down the path. Both had some remembrance of how they had left last time  
  
Wolf slowed a bit behind Tony, taking some time to himself to think a bit. When they came to a conjunction, splitting one path in half to go around another pool, he instantly remembered it to be the spot where Virginia had told him she loved him.   
  
As much as he wanted to keep that precious thought in his mind, he shut it out. The memory only served as a harsh reminder that she had been taken away. He had to put his thoughts to happier times, ones that didn't make him think of her. It was becoming too painful.   
  
Finally, the swamp exit dumped out onto a beautiful field, filled with daises and daffodils. Having their eyes on dead and grotesque things for so long, it was strange to see life and beauty again. Tony couldn't think of a time that he was so happy to see flowers. To see a color other than green was a nice turn of events. Wolf inhaled a deep breath, and was so pleased to smell fresh air, not that humid and thick swamp scent. He turned back and glanced at the swamp, wondering how he lasted for so long without gagging.  
  
Both Tony and Wolf looked at each other and smiled. They had gotten all the crystals, now they could find Virginia and bring her home. Neither of them wanted to think of who took her, trying not to damper their hopes of rescue. Tony grabbed at his sack and pulled out the mirror. Wolf watched quizzically. "Why do we need that? We have all the crystals. There's nothing more it can tell us."   
  
"Well ... hold on." He brought the mirror up and cleared his throat. His face paused for a second, trying to word his sentence correctly. He pursed his lips and then asked the mirror; "Mirror, how much time do we have left before the mirror locks?"   
  
Wolf was amazed, he didn't even think to ask the mirror that. "Nice, Tone." He whispered to him, trying not to talk over the mirror.   
  
It hummed quietly and then came to life. "Your quest is running very short on time, you have until the clock strikes the twelfth chime." It was shorter than any other rhymes it had supplied them with, and yet it was enough.  
  
"What!?" Tony yelled. That wasn't ample time, they needed at least a day to make it there on foot. Wolf looked desperately at the sun; it was all ready set. The pink haze still filled the sky, but a few stars were all ready making themselves known. Time was a virtue they didn't have. Wolf looked at the mirror once more, praying that it was joking, just a little prank, but no, it hummed once more and was silent.   
  
"That's not enough time! We've got, what? Maybe four hours to make it back to Wendell's!?" Tony asked hysterically. Tony dumped the mirror back in his sack and sighed, where were those damn horses when he needed them!? Wolf looked apologetic at Tony as he grabbed his bag and then dashed off through the field. Tony watched him run off and let out an exasperated sigh; this was going to be a long run.   
  
"Ooh, I need a beer." Tony mumbled and then set off after Wolf, jogging at a rapid pace.   
  
  
Wolf ran so hard and fast, he felt every muscle in his legs stretch and pull, trying to run faster than he could. The back of his legs, all the way up his spine throbbed with every foot he gained. Wolf heard Tony behind him yelling for him to stop, but he ignored it. Wolf ran past the field and into a forest, speeding quickly by everything. He ran over logs, splashing through creeks, under branches, trying to ignore the steady fatigue he was acquiring.   
  
He had a vague idea of where he was heading, if his bearings were correct, he had only a few miles left until he would see the castle. Wolf needed to stop, he needed to rest, and he cursed his body for giving out at him at a time like that. He pulled on every reserve he had within him and ran harder and faster than he ever had done before.  
  
Air burned in his mouth and every time he inhaled, he felt it sting his lungs. His mouth was dry and his throat was sore. Sweat began to pour down his forehead and back; his face was hot and red. Water, he needed a cool sip of water. Every creek and river he ran through or over, he had to pull himself away from. He couldn't waste time.   
  
Wolf's mind kept drifting back to a stream he passed with crystal clear water. He knew it was cold, due to the fact that his foot went underwater in the soft soil, sinking his leg down and into the freezing creek. It was ice cold and extremely inviting. He kept telling himself not to stop, but it was so hard to keep running without a break.   
  
Don't stop, you can't! She's depending on you. You can drink it later. Think about later. Virginia in your arms and all the water you can drink. Later. Now you have to run. Run. Run. Run! He Thought.  
  
He summoned everything he had and began to sprint once more. Branches whacked in his face, tall grass sliced at his arms, insects bit him and buzzed in his ear, and he tuned it all out, only thinking of how close he was.   
  
Tony became totally faint behind him, probably not saying much at all to save breath. Finally, when Wolf felt he was going to double over in pain from running cramps and lack of air, he saw a small farmhouse.   
  
Horses!  
  
Wolf slowed himself to a jog and hurried to the farmhouse. His joints and muscles were weak and worn out, each throbbing in beat with his heart, amplified in his head. He hadn't slept fully in days and the side effects lingered. He felt lightheaded and on the brink of collapsing.   
  
When he reached the barn, the horses reared back and went to the opposite side of the pen, neighing and huddling together. Horses never did like him for some reason. He opened the gate door and stepped inside. He approached them slow at first, but soon gave up as they kept dodging him, and ran after them.  
  
"Come here .... you stupid horse!" He said between breaths. Wolf jumped and grabbed the mane of a black horse. He easily jumped onto the back and made his way out the pen. It felt so nice to give his legs a much-needed rest. He shut the gate door from atop the horse and galloped into the field.  
  
  
Tony ran as hard as he could through the forest, breaking his jog and pushing himself faster. He could see Wolf, who was a small speck, still running at full speed. He could hear his heart pounding and how his clothes clung to his body from sweat. He needed to rest, badly, realizing Wolf must be feeling as tired as he was.   
  
When he entered another clearing, he saw Wolf take off through the rest of the field on a black horse. He took a moment and put his hand against a tree and leaned on it, taking heavy breaths to try and calm his heart down. "Good thinking Wolf! Thank God." Tony thought and made his way for the pen that two horses remained in. He opened the gate and ran inside, choosing a nimble brown horse.   
  
He grabbed the mane as he expected Wolf had done, and tried to jump on, but had no such luck. After a few attempts, he pulled the horse over to where several stacks of hay were placed and climbed them, carefully like stairs, keeping his grip on the horse for leverage. After he was sure the horse wouldn't move from under him, he jumped on and made his way out the pen.  
  
"Hey! What are you doing with my horse!?" An old man shouted behind Tony. He came out running from his house, waving his arms around wildly.   
  
"Sorry! Official duty for King Wendell!" Was all that Tony could think of to say. He kicked the horse to reach full speed and led it towards the forest he saw Wolf enter. "We'll return your horses soon!" Tony shouted over his shoulder. The old man stopped running after Tony, dropped his arms, and watched him leave with a perplexed expression on his face.   
  
Tony soon lost sight of the man and the farmhouse. He kept his attention on Wolf, who he was steadily gaining on. Obviously, Tony had picked the faster horse. As they approached another forest, Tony was only a few yards behind.   
  
Tony noticed that it felt like a relay race between them, having to do obstacles, trying to reach the castle first. The only difference was the lack of time they really had. Tony glanced over his shoulder at where the sun had set. It was all ready gone into the horizon and all that remained was a weak golden reflection and stars.   
  
  
Wolf clung to the mane of the horse and kicked it like crazy. He didn't want to hurt the horse, but right now, some things were more important than whether or not the animal acquired a few bruises.   
  
Behind him, he could hear Tony yelling, but it wasn't to him. He rolled his eyes, couldn't he do anything without getting in trouble? Wolf felt a grin creep across his face at the thought. As the horse picked up speed, he made his way through the field and into a thinner forest.   
  
Wolf's grin left his face as he remembered the forest. He was there almost an exact month ago with Virginia. It was where they had proved their love for one another, before battling the Evil Queen.   
  
Wolf shut his eyes, not wanting to remember anymore. It pained his heart too much to think about it. Everything was reminding him of her, and it burned inside him, not knowing if she and their cub were all right. He let the horse run on, trusting it to take him closer to the castle. When he reopened his eyes, he saw before him, Wendell's castle.  
  
His face brightened and he turned around to see how far Tony was behind him, and found that he was only about twenty feet back. He saw Tony's face light up as he saw the castle in front of them as well. They were so close.  
  
Wolf glanced up at the sky. The stars were all out and the crescent moon was illuminating the small part of the night sky. He hadn't noticed how much time had passed since they had left the swamp, his thoughts sidetracked his keep on time. He wanted to ask the mirror how much time was left, but was dreading the answer. He knew it was going to be tight, but he was hoping that fate was on their side.  
  
Tony and Wolf raced on their horses through the royal gardens and past the stables. Both split at the enormous fountain in the center of the main walkway, but soon were back together at the other end. Past the flags that flew in the cool night air and up to the main steps of the castle.   
  
Tony and Wolf leapt off their horses and up to the door. As Wolf reached for the handle, it flew open, Wendell standing behind it. His face was filled with worry and concern for them and Virginia. He led them inside, having a thousand questions to ask, but Wolf beat him to it.  
  
"How much longer do we have?" Wolf asked anxiously, both to Tony and Wendell, not caring who answered him. He dug into Tony's bag and pulled out the crystals.  
  
All three looked at the large grandfather clock that was displayed in the middle of the room. If on cue, it began. All the clocks in the castle began to chime for twelve.   
  
One. Two.  
  
Wolf's eyes shot wide open and he tore through the castle not wasting another moment. He clutched the crystals in his hands tightly, two in his left and one in his right. He raced up the grand staircase, skipping every other step the whole way up.   
  
Three. Four.  
  
The dreaded chimes echoed through the halls and rooms, but were the loudest in Wolf's head. It pounded without hesitation, making him wince each time they rang. Wolf couldn't see around him, all of the hall and guards nearby were clouded and foggy, he could only see the long stretch of hall that extended on forever. It didn't seem that it ever stopped.   
  
Five.  
  
His legs sped as fast as he could, he whipped down the hall, and the only sound was his feet pounding the floor as he ran and the echo of chimes.   
  
Six.  
  
The damn chimes rang, faster and faster. Wolf snarled despite his harsh breathing. It wasn't fair. They were going too fast. Oh, what Wolf wouldn't give for time to stop for just a few moments, that's all he needed.   
  
Seven.   
  
His breathing was getting more ragged, again his breath was hot and stung his throat as it came out. He needed to stop, his body was calling him too, but he wouldn't, he couldn't.   
  
Eight.  
  
He could hear Wendell and Tony shouting for him to run faster, it was so faint, their voices seemed to be mer whispers to him. They were far behind, it was up to him.  
  
Nine.  
  
Three more seconds. That's all he had. He saw the end. He saw the door. He sprinted even faster down the last section of the hall, straining his legs and body until he thought he would fall from running too fast.   
  
Ten.  
  
It was the only thing he saw, the long white, wooden door with golden frames and beautiful swirl designs. He slammed into the door, breaking the hinges, and letting it fall haphazardly to the floor. He burst into the room, not breaking his stride after jumping over the broken door.  
  
Eleven.  
  
Not enough time! I need more time! Wolf thought desperately. He flung his body into the curtain blocking the alcove and listened, terrified, as the clock struck twelve. It was a loud and horrible sounding chime, ringing in his ears and making him wince. Wolf froze.  
  
His heart stopped. He watched, in complete horror as the Spying Mirror began to crack. It wasn't because it was preparing to speak to him, but rather because it was dying. They ran out of time. Wolf could do nothing but stand there and watch.   
  
The mirror made an ear splitting crash as it shattered and fell to the ground in thousands of pieces. Wolf did not move. He didn't flinch. He couldn't, he didn't know what to do or how to act. It seemed like a dream to him, something that wasn't real.   
  
That's right! Maybe he would wake up out of that horrible dream and find Virginia sleeping peacefully next to him. He shut his eyes and prayed, "Oh please, let this be a dream. Don't let this be real." When he opened his eyes, he just saw the same hollowed frame, and the thousands of mirror pieces that reflected his crestfallen expression.  
  
Wolf felt his muscles go limp and his hands unclench. One by one, the crystals fell to the floor as if in slow motion, each making a slight ping as they hit the floor. All his faith had shattered with the mirror, and fell to the ground in broken pieces. No possible hopes of being put back together. All was lost. It was impossible. He had lost Virginia, he had failed her.  



	31. A Shattered Hope

Emptiness. Coldness. Fear. Everything coursed through Wolf as he watched the mirror, still and rigid on the floor. It was broken and totally lifeless. More emotions fled through him as he stood there even though a blank expression covered his face. Rage. Terror. Fright.   
  
He didn't notice when Wendell and Tony came running into the room, out of breath and unaware of what had happened. When they saw the mirror, both turned away, not wanting to see what had happened, how they knew they failed.  
  
Wolf was torn from his dismal gaze at the mirror as he heard their moans of despair as they saw the shattered pieces. Tony had a hand over his forehead and was pacing the alcove, regaining his breath and muttering to himself. Wendell was slowly approaching Wolf, his gaze transfixed on the scene of sharp daggers of mirror.   
  
Wolf felt that he should howl, cry, tear his hair out and yell out in agony ... but he couldn't do any of that. He only felt a hard emptiness fill him and make his feeling of fear flood his mind and body. Wendell was shaking his head and talking to Wolf, but it was muted by the echoing chimes of the clock still ringing in his head. As much as Wolf tried to make them stop and focus on Wendell, they would give. It pounded in his head worse than any headache he had ever gone through, it was terrible. It was real.  
  
They lost. That was it. It was over. Everything they had gone through had been lost because he didn't make it in time. A fresh new feeling of guilt sent a chill up his spine and made his body slightly tremble. Wolf tried to vent his feelings somehow, but it was impossible, nothing was coming out.   
  
Wolf was snapped back to reality as Tony's hands clamped on his shoulders. Wolf turned towards him and saw he was near tears, his voice breaking as he spoke to him.   
  
"Wolf, it's all right," He tried to speak reassuringly, but failed horribly. Both of them felt it was Wolf's fault, but neither said it. Wolf wanted to comfort him, but found that his voice was gone. "We'll find another way." Tony patted Wolf's shoulders, turned away, and walked about the alcove, pacing again and mumbling curse words to himself.   
  
Wendell still hadn't brought his eyes off the mirror and was still breathing rapidly from the long sprint. Wolf walked over to the broken pieces and bent down. He hovered over them, looking at his mangled reflection in various fragments, all showing the same vacant look in his eyes, copied a hundred times over.   
  
Wolf picked up a large piece and stood up. Finding no other way to expel his rage, he flung the piece back at the ground where it shattered once again and joined the others, cracked and broken. He kicked at the pieces, sending some of them flying across the room, and stomped on them, breaking more, hearing the loud snaps as the crushed beneath his feet.   
  
Wendell rushed over to Wolf and gently led him away from the broken mirror, hushing him like a small child. Wolf obliged for a moment, but then tore from his grasp, turning his back to him.   
  
Wolf had to search for it, but when he finally found his voice, it came out raspy and cold. "What does it matter!?" He shouted. "We've lost her!" Again, his feelings over filled and his body shook with jumbled emotions. He wanted to cry and howl, somehow get rid of his feelings, but nothing worked. Instead of tears, he only felt his body shake as it tried to release what he was experiencing inside.  
  
"No, no, no, Wolf. It's not over--" Wendell said softly.  
  
"Yes, it is." Wolf's voice broke, but no tears would shed. "There's no other way we can find her. Unless you plan on searching the Nine Kingdoms one inch at a time." His voice was hollow and broken, just like the mirror. "Which, I hate to tell you, would take a whole lot of time."  
  
"No, but there has to be some other way."  
  
"Face it Wendy, there isn't." Wolf said dejectedly as he took another swift kick at the shatter fragments and then threw the hollowed frame to the floor, letting the wood splinter and crack in two.   
  
"Hey, hey! Maybe there is!" Tony snapped his fingers and came up to them. His face was beaming and bright, smiling happily almost as if nothing had happened. Both Wolf and Wendell looked at him as if he had gone mad, but kept their comments quiet and awaited his idea.   
  
"Go on." Wendell crossed his arms and looked at Tony, hoping it was something useful.   
  
"Well, Wendell, do you remember when --" He paused and shook his hands. "Wait, never mind you don't remember anything from then."   
  
"What are you talking about, Antony?" Wendell said, a bit perplexed.  
  
"When Virginia and I were in Dragon Mountain. You were going ... 'all dog'--" Tony watched as Wendell's expression switched to insulted and he looked at Tony in outrage.  
  
"I was certainly not going 'all dog'! I just had some other things on my mind. There was a lot going on at the time and I ... I was concentrating on ... on various solutions to getting my Kingdom back." Wendell spoke in his defense, stuttering a bit. Even he didn't buy it.   
  
"Do you remember anything from Dragon Mountain besides bones and cuddles?" Tony asked, trying to prove his point.  
  
"I... well.....I remem--...there was the.... Oh, forget it. All right, go on Antony." Wendell shrugged him off and felt his pride take a hit. He ignored Tony's smug expression and focused on the retelling of his story.  
  
"Anyway, when we were there, we spoke to this mirror, Gustav. He knew all about the mirrors and where they were." Tony saw Wendell and Wolf exchange clueless looks, and so continued. "Who's to say he doesn't know where Virginia is!?" Tony smiled brightly again as Wendell and Wolf both took time to sink it in.   
  
"And you're expecting the Dwarves to welcome us with open arms?" Wolf asked. He remembered quite well from the story Virginia told him of the Mountain. How Tony had acquired his bad luck and broke a roomful of mirrors, thus infuriating the Dwarves and chasing them out. He was pretty positive that the Dwarves would hold a grudge.   
  
"Well, I... no. I hadn't thought of that." Tony's smiled faded off his mouth and his arms dropped to his sides.   
  
There was a moment of silence and then Wendell spoke up. "Yes, well, it is a plan. As far as I can tell, it's the best way to find her." He said encouragingly. "We'll figure something out." He was prepared to have them get started on it right away, and possibly begin the mission as soon as possible, but then he noted their appearances   
  
Wolf and Tony looked absolutely dreadful. Their clothes were torn and dirty. Wolf's arm had a bandage wrapped around and the blood had soaked through, leaving a dirty dark red color on the once white cloth. Tony was completely exhausted and his eyes had dark bags under them. They were in no shape to be going out on another adventure, not like that! They needed new clothes, food, sleep and defiantly a long bath!   
  
"Well, how about we get you settled in for tonight, we can start with the plans tomorrow morning." Wendell led Tony out of the room, but Wolf refused to move.  
  
"How can you wait until tomorrow!? Virginia is out there alone, possibly hurt or --" He could bring himself to saying 'dying,' even the thought hurt him. He paused and then continued. "We can't stop, we have to find her!"  
  
"Wolf, I want to find her as much as you do, but we can't go on forever. We need food and sleep." Tony said, trying to convince him it wasn't only for their own good, but Virginia's too. "Come on, let's get you and that arm of yours cleaned up. Tomorrow we'll head out early and get to Dragon Mountain as fast as we can."   
  
Tony took his arm, but Wolf pulled it away roughly, only resulting in a harsh memory of his wound, which began to slightly throb. Even though a few days had passed, the cut was still recovering. He shook his head and backed away. "No! You're giving up on her! I won't do that!"   
  
"Wolf, listen to yourself, you're getting hysterical. You need sleep." Wendell gently said.   
  
Wolf took another moment and gathered his thoughts before nodding silently and following them out of the room. Just as he had done before, he paused as he was leaving and took on last look at the mirror before shutting the door.   
  
As he watched Tony and Wendell walk down the hall in front of him, an idea exploded in his mind, but he kept his mouth shut and mutely followed them. Wendell showed them to their separate rooms and promised to return shortly with clothes and food.   
  
Tony greatly accepted the idea of a hot meal and crisp clothes. He walked into his room and fell onto the bed, sighing heavily. The smiled that was across his face, quickly faded away as he thought about Virginia.  
  
"Wolf's right. We can't be enjoying ourselves like this when she's out there alone." Tony quietly scolded himself. Still, he knew they needed time to sleep and reenergize themselves before the hike to Dragon Mountain that following morning.   
  
While he thought of the possible reunion between the dwarves and him, Tony dozed off into a peaceful nap. It was quickly interrupted as Wendell sprang into the room.  
  
"Antony, wake up!" He shouted.   
  
Tony shot up in bed, drowsily looking around at what the commotion was about. "Wha ... what?" He asked angrily, mad to have been awaken from his slumber, one that promised to be the best in days.  
  
"Wolf's gone!" He informed him.   
  
"What?" Tony asked, not sure if he heard him right. He got out of bed and followed Wendell into Wolf's room. As they entered, they saw small pieces of Wolf's sheets ripped and scattered all over the room, while the majority of them made a rope that was tied to the bed post and hung out the window. As the drapes were tousled in the wind, Wendell and Tony looked at each other and then back towards the window.  
  
"It seems," Wendell said towards Tony, keeping his eyes on the window. "He doesn't want to wait until morning."   
  
  
Wolf pushed the branches out of his face as he galloped through the forest on a quick black horse that he borrowed from Wendell. The crescent moon lit up a small portion of the sky like a flashlight, only illuminating a diminutive part.   
  
He grabbed the reins and gave another whack. Certain that the horse was traveling as fast as it could, Wolf eased off the continuous slaps he was giving the animal. His hands were raw and blistered from the reins and his feet were tired from kicking and his race to the castle earlier that evening.   
  
He couldn't get rid of the awful feeling he had that he had again, let her down. As if the full moon night and the time he lost in the Deadly Swamp wasn't enough, he was bolted a remembrance of how he failed her from the very beginning. He should've been on guard, been anticipating an attack in their home, but no. He walked into that kitchen and practically invited them to knock him out.  
  
Now it was the mirror. Another failed attempt to save her, and it was ruined because of him. "If I hadn't let my animal side take over, we would've gotten to the mirror in time to see her and find out where she was." He thought bitterly, scolding himself harshly. "And now you might not even be able to find her at all because you're low, filthy animal! You've let your mate and cub down! You're not worthy of them, you don't deserve them! They should leave you for good!"  
  
The thought that he would never be able to see her again was too much for him to handle. Instead of thinking on ways to punish himself for letting her down repeatedly, he focused on ways to punish those who took her. A sinister smile crept across his face. Whoever dared to take his Virginia was going to pay dearly.  
  
Wolf glanced back at the way he came. He hadn't noticed how long he had been thinking, but the sky was all ready beginning to brighten up as the sun prepared to rise. What a night it had been, so much had been lost and another adventure was about to take way.   
  
Deciding not to cut through the Deadly Swamp, or hurt his heart anymore with Kissing Town, Wolf cut through the Fifth Kingdom and around to the base of Dragon Mountain. The entire way there he refused to stop for longer than a few short minutes, just to water the horse.  
  
When he finally reached Dragon Mountain, it was near noon. He glanced up the mountain, and sighed. He felt that he was close deep inside him, but didn't allow it to cloud his thinking, that's what happened last time, and it turned out miserably.   
  
Wolf tied the reins of the horse to a tree at the base of the mountain, certain that no one would be along there anytime soon and take it. As he turned towards it and began to climb, he had a burst of the memory pop into his head and run like a play, every detail vivid and clear.   
  
//He was running through that same field, following the Trolls scent, mixed with Tony, Virginia, and Prince's. He was very tired, no sleep for days. They all had been there, all within a short time. Now it was his turn to follow them up the mountain. "Why are they going up there?" He had asked himself. Then decided that they were possibly just trying to flee from the Trolls that were pursuing them. Trolls. The thought made him flash his eyes a pure yellow. He hated Trolls.  
  
He climbed up the mountain with ease, following the scent of Tony and realized that Virginia let her pride cloud her reason and went straight up on the rocks, instead of listening to her father and going along the path. He could tell by their scents, what had happened between them, like someone had told him previously and he was watching it happen. The thought of her fighting her father over who was right had made him laugh, she never wanted to admit when she was wrong, even when the facts were in front of her. Virginia and him were so much a like, if only she would see that as well as he did.  
  
When he had reached a minor flat land, set in the middle of the mountain, he could tell that Virginia and Tony had met up and stayed the night in a small cave, and then left the following morning. Even though their scents were weak from a day or so back, he refused to give up and turn back, not when so much was riding on it.   
  
He found the entrance to the Dwarve's underground lair through the skeleton mouth of a dead dragon. The ripped flags of Dwarves that were faded from years of weather, flapped in the breeze that passed over the mountain. Dragons. Dwarves. Trolls. And another scent. Oh cripes! The Huntsman was back and following them as well. The urgent thought made his pace quicken.  
  
Wolf stepped inside the cave and continued to follow their scent, determined to find them. Nothing was going to stop him now. Not Virginia's pride, not Tony's temper, not even his own guilt and remorse for what happened in Kissing Town. That was in the past. He took another sniff, and followed the scent and trail of them into the mountain.//   
  
Only, this time, there was no scent for him to follow or Trolls and a Huntsman to worry about. He could remember from the last time how to reach the main room of the Dwarve's factory, even though he had taken extreme measures to avoid it the last time. Wolf scratched his temple unconsciously and stepped inside the mouth of the dragon and inside to see the Dwarves. Since fate had not been on his side the previous night as he hoped it was going to be, he was praying that it would be now.  
  
  



	32. A Change of Plans

Wolf took a step inside the entrance of Dragon Mountain and instantly felt the cold air from the depths of the immense cave rush up to meet him. As he stumbled down the layers of rocks and into the opening of the cave, his hand unconsciously reached out for the wall for leverage.   
  
When he felt a smooth and rounded stone-like object sticking out of the side of the cave in his hand, he turned and noticed that his hand was in contact with a thick white bone. He pulled his hand away and followed the bone up until it came in contact with the spine it was attached to. Wolf shuttered away and continued his decline down the rocks.   
  
The last time he had been down the tunnel, he had paid no attention to anything surrounding him or details about the cave itself. All that had mattered was hanging onto Virginia's scent and staying clear of the Dwarves for fear of punishment for entering their caves. He knew that they killed anyone for entering their mines, so worried about their secrets being stolen when the truth was, no one really wanted to.  
  
When the sloping rocks finally ceased and he was standing on flat dirt ground, he came up to the sign that read; "9th Kingdom Royal Dwarf Mines" in yellow print hanging from the ceiling. The Dragon bones had finally stopped lining the walls of the cave and now all that remained were the slick limestones that glittered from the reflection of the torches lit in the tunnel.   
  
Wolf continued on and came across the first tunnel slide. As he peered down, he noted how dark and endless it seemed. There was no glimmer of light coming from the end, nor did there ever appear to be any safe way to go down besides closing your eyes and hoping for the best.  
  
"Oh stop it Wolf!" He scolded himself quietly. "Huff puff, you've been down this before, nothing's changed since then!" Or had it? He shook his head and grabbed a burlap sack out of the pile sitting next to the slide. He got on the slide and pushed himself forward.   
  
A small yelp of surprise escaped his throat as he reached the bottom and nearly missed the sign that was hung over head. "Slide No. 46" With the momentum from the slide, he easily hopped off the sack and continued down the new tunnel and followed the sounds of clanking and numerous conversations.  
  
As he quietly followed the torches down the tunnel, he weaved around several empty crates and boxes that were scattered over the floor. He rubbed his hands together for warmth and noticed how cold and damp it was in the mountain. As Wolf suppressed a sneeze, he stopped a moment and then let it out, not wanting to attract attention to himself yet. He scratched his temple and walked to the end of the corridor.   
  
Wolf gasped as he saw below him the Dwarve's manufacturing room. There were ramps leading all over the cave, small carts on rails, a pile of discarded rocks and a huge kettle in the middle lit by a massive fire. Then he saw all the dwarves, parading up and down, back and fourth through the room.   
  
Many were carrying small wheelbarrows and others pushed and pulled the carts along the tracks. Everything was so tiny, fit perfectly for their size. The cave itself, Wolf noticed, was low and for the first time he recognized that he was bending over, so as not to hit his head on the ceiling above.  
  
As the opening he came from dumped out into the large room, the ceiling overhead seemed that it would increase higher. The stalactites that hung from the roof dripped water onto the dwarves below, but none of them paid any attention to the constant dripping. The huge rock icicles seemed deadly and dangerous to Wolf, as if at any moment they could come crashing down and easily take a life.   
  
Wolf tore his thoughts away from the dangers and focused again on the Dwarves. They seemed so busy, so wrapped in their own little work that he thought it'd be difficult to get any of them to notice his presence. He was wrong.  
  
"You up there!" A Dwarf shouted. Wolf searched around for whom the voice belonged to, but it was hard now that all the faces were directed at him. Everything had been stopped and it was completely silent. "Comrade, name yourself!" A Dwarf shouted as he climbed a ramp to get a higher view of him.   
  
"I uh....." Wolf rubbed his hands down his jacket to get rid of the sweat that perspired there. It was amazing how his hands were sweating and he was so cold. He cleared his throat after a moment and spoke. "My .... my name is Wolf."   
  
A group gasp echoed through the cave as each dwarf looked at each other and then back up to him. "Is it really you?" The leader said. "The famous Wolf who saved the Nine Kingdoms?"   
  
Wolf nodded, not sure whether or not to be pleased that they knew about that. He let out a weak smile. Would they punish him for being in contact and knowing Tony? Certainly they wouldn't be mad for mentioning Virginia if he had to prove it; she had nothing to do with what Tony did. Wolf swallowed.  
  
"Well, come down here, Comrade." The leader said, waving him down. "The rest of you, get back to work. We still have mirrors to replace!" The others grumbled as their reply and the noise level shot back up as the hammers started to bang and the carts resumed to being filled.  
  
Wolf carefully made his way down the side of the cave on a tiny path that was created. As he approached the leader dwarf, he realized just how much shorter he was to him. His hair was a dingy brown and rested on his shoulders and he wore a red shirt with a dark red vest, both covered in a heavy layer of dirt and grime.   
  
His face was paled from the lack of sun he received from being in the mountain, probably all his life, and it was covered with sweat and streaks of mud. He led Wolf over to his desk where he sat down behind it. The chair was elevated highly, giving him a chance to be eye level with Wolf.   
  
"So, why have you entered our Kingdom, Noble Wolf?" He said as he cleared a few papers off of his desk. Wolf noticed that the dwarves that were working near the desk had stopped their jobs and leaned forward to hear him while the others across the room were talking to each other about him, telling tales that they had heard about what he had done to save the Kingdoms.   
  
"Well, I.."  
  
"You don't have that idiot Antony with you, I hope." He quickly said, leaning closer to him. Wolf felt sudden rushes of claustrophobia sink in; it was so strange that a small person like that was making him feel so uncomfortable.  
  
"Well, no."   
  
"Good," He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "That oaf has cost us years of remaking mirrors. He may have helped in saving the Nine Kingdoms, but he sure didn't help us." He glanced past Wolf and his face became furious. "I told you comrades, get back to work!" He shouted and then turned back to Wolf. "They're always so curious when an outsider comes in." He paused and then regained his previous thought. "So, why Ihave/I you come down here?"   
  
"Well, I need to speak with your mirror, Gustav." Wolf said briefly, hoping that the dwarf would oblige and take him to a different room where he could breathe easily. All the noise and the stench of unwashed dwarves were making him dizzy.  
  
"Well, of course." He jumped down from his chair and over to Wolf. "As long as you're not suffering from any bad luck."   
  
"Oh no!" Wolf shook his head. Sure, he lost the mirror, got his arm battered up by an ax, nearly lost Tony due to drowning, but that wasn't the type of bad luck they meant. Still, he thought it best to keep that to himself.   
  
The leader of the dwarves led Wolf into another room that was set aside from the main room. They were greeted by another dwarf; this one was wearing glasses and seemed to be much older than the other. "This is out librarian, he can help you. I better be getting back to my work before my comrades sneak in here to pester you." And with that, he left. Wolf and the librarian exchanged quick greetings and then Wolf got straight to the point.   
  
"I need to speak with your mirror immediately, it's very important." He said. The librarian nodded his head and led Wolf across the room. He noticed that there were several empty racks spread across the place, and small pieces of mirror were scattered all over the floor. A few dwarves were walking around, keeping themselves busy, but when they thought Wolf wasn't looking, they stole a quick glance at the new outsider.   
  
The librarian led Wolf over to a wall that was covered by a heavy curtain. When he pulled it down, Wolf quickly realized that it wasn't a wall, but it was the mirror. It was dirty and covered in patches of filth and had been worn away from time.   
  
"How does it work?" Wolf asked as he stepped closer to the mirror and saw his reflection, which was mangled from the blocking layers of dust.  
  
"Well, he's a bit deaf so you have to speak up and he talks in verse. Which means, you have to ask him your questions in rhyme." Wolf nodded and gazed over the mirror. "I have to get back to my work as well, we're a bit behind. I'll be over there if you need help." He said and then headed off. Wolf sighed. Finally, this was it. He finally had the key to finding where Virginia was and all he had to do was put it in the lock and turn it.  
  
  
  
  



	33. Worry and Wait

Wolf gazed over the mirror, it certainly was much bigger than any of the traveling or spying mirrors. He looked over the patches of dirt that covered the mirror in spots from top to bottom and wondered why the dwarves never cleaned it. He figured that since they were always so devoted to their mirrors, that they would at least clean them once in a while.   
  
Wolf shook his head and cleared his mind of that thought, he wasn't there to critizise the dwarve's cleaning habits, he was there to find where Virginia was. The problem now was to think of a way to ask the mirror. He never was good at rhymes and at that moment, secretly despised the people who could. How had Virginia and Tony figured out so much from him? He knew they couldn't rhyme very well either. But if they could do it, there was hope for him.  
  
Wolf cleared his throat and shut his eyes in concentration. After a moment of putting words together that rhymed and made sense, Wolf spoke to Gustav. "Gustav, will you be real nice and oh so kind, to help me see my mate so her I can find?" Wolf sighed, he knew it was lame, but Gustav seemed to get the point.   
  
With a gigantic rippling effect, Gustav came alive from his placid state and his eyes and mouth formed from the water-like reflection. The patches of dirt remained with him, reminding Wolf that he was only a mirror. Wolf was broken from his observations as Gustav's old and dried voice spoke to him.  
  
A long way you have traveled to seek my aid, to save your mate, a price will be paid.   
  
Wolf stared at Gustav for a moment, unsure what to think of that statement but then pressed on to his next question. "Where is she and is she close, can I find her by using my nose?" Wolf somewhat winced as he bent the rules a bit, 'close' and 'nose' didn't rhyme to well, but it was the only thing he could think of.   
  
Gustav seemed to notice Wolf's poor attempt, but only grunted slightly before answering. Obviously, not everyone could rhyme.   
  
" A Kingdom's King once stayed far from here, his magic helped to make himself disappear. His kingdom was built by vengeance and hate, he released queen from her cell and met his fate."  
  
Wolf didn't need to hear much more to know the she was in the Troll King's palace, the simple thought of wicked Trolls keeping his beloved captive made him curl his lip and snarl under his breath. Why would Trolls want to take her? She was the sweetest person in the whole Nine Kingdoms! One thing was for sure; they were going to pay dearly.   
  
Wolf turned his attention back to Gustav who was patiently waiting for his next question. "Why do the Trolls want to take my mate, and what are their plans for her fate?" Wolf felt better about that poem; at least it rhymed properly.   
  
"The Trolls are aiding a girl who wants a crime to be paid, by killing a life she expects her hurt to fade."  
  
Wolf whimpered, they were planning on killing Virginia! His heartbeat started to accelerate as he stood there, his fists were clenching and unclenching. Of course Wolf knew that whoever captured her probably had that in mind, but hearing it out loud for the first time shot through him. He had to reach her in time, he had to.   
  
He was going to take off for the Troll Palace that very instant, but one more question loomed in his head. A woman was leading the trolls? The last time that something like that had happened, they lost their King. Wolf would've thought that they would learn from their mistakes, but then again, you can never be too sure what a Troll would do or forget. Wolf shook heads, leave it to Trolls to practically condemn themselves to ruin.   
  
Wolf gathered up his thoughts again and formed them into a rhyming question. When he spoke, he was surprised to find his voice merciless and cold. "Virginia is captured by this controlling dame, who is she and what is her name?" Wolf swallowed.  
  
"The girl has a hate she holds to keep, once related to a Sally Peep." That was all Gustav said and Wolf needed nothing more. He nodded briskly and shot off towards the entrance of the library.   
  
"Did you find what you needed?" The librarian shouted after him as he stopped in the middle of placing a book on a shelf. Wolf nodded and shouted his gratitude before springing through the manufacturing room and heading for the entrance where he came from. Most of all the dwarves stopped their work again to watch as Wolf flew by and up the ramp towards the tunnel. It grew silent except for Wolf's thudding steps up the ramp and over to the narrow dirt path up the side of the cave.  
  
When he made his way up the bridges and into the tunnel, he lost sight of all the dwarves. As soon as he was out of their sight, the room suddenly exploded with noise of voices and banging. Typical dwarves. Wolf raced back down the corridor and up a crude version of stairs that were placed close to the slide.   
  
Nearing the top, his breath was ragged and hot, he hadn't noticed just how steep or long the slide had been until he actually had to climb back up. As he ran out from the skeletal dragon mouth, he instantly winced against the blinding sun that shined directly in his face. When he had arrived, it was sunrise. Now it was mid afternoon. Time was slipping by quickly and he had no way of stopping it.   
  
He brought his hands up and blocked the sun as he carefully, but swiftly, made he way back down the mountain. As he squinted out into the field at the bottom, he saw the horse patiently waiting by the tree he had tied him too, slowly eating the grass.   
  
When he reached the bottom of the mountain, his eyes were finally adjusted to the light and he climbed onto his horse and untied the knot. Wolf kicked the horse and sped off to the West, towards the Troll King's Palace. This was it. He was finally going to be able to rescue Virginia, he was just hoping he would make it in time.   
  
  
  
"I really think we should go after him. What if he needs our help?" Tony asked as he paced the throne room in front of Wendell. He had his hands behind his back and his brow was creased in thought and worry.   
  
"Antony, I'm sure that if Wolf needs help, he'll come and get it. He can rescue Virginia, he did it before." Wendell's voice was so calm and sure, Tony wondered how he could possibly just sit there and shrug it off.   
  
"I doubt it. He'll want to do it his was without help, even if he does need it." Tony said as he paused and stared down at the marble floor. Going after him didn't seem like a bad idea. He knew that Wolf was going to Dragon Mountain, of course Tony could just wait outside for that part, but he wanted to help bring home his little girl, he was very unnerved just thinking and waiting for her to come home.  
  
"Antony, just relax. It won't do you any good to have a heart attack about it." Wendell said softly, with a tint of his own humor in it. Things like this happened daily in the kingdoms, he should understand that if it's meant to turn out Happily Ever After, it will.   
  
"I can't relax when Virginia's out there in the hands of some maniac. At least when I was out there with Wolf, I felt as if I was helping her come home. Now that idiot decides to take off by himself, unarmed and alone." Tony shook his head.   
  
"Antony, I think you should go to bed. You're becoming as much of a lunatic as Wolf was before he left. Stop worrying and get some sleep."   
  
"Ya know, that's another thing." Tony said wagging his finger up and down at Wendell with his other hand on his hip. He looked like a scolding mother who was punishing their child.   
  
"Oh, now what?" Wendell sighed and he slumped down in his throne, preparing for another one of Antony's 'the world is against me' theory. He put his hand over his forehead and closed his eyes, trying to momentarily tune out his voice, but to no avail.   
  
Tony didn't notice Wendell's comment or his expression, he carried on anyway. "Wolf hadn't gotten any sleep, food, or clothes. How can he possibly go out there and successfully save Virginia from whoever took her? What? Does he think that I couldn't handle going out there with him? I thought I all ready proved to him that I am capable of many things. I think he purposely left so that I wouldn't go with him. I should show him a thing or two. Virginia's my daughter and--"  
  
"And is also in love with Wolf." Wendell cut in. "If I can trust him, you can too." He said gently as he descended off of his throne and over to Tony.  
  
"Wendell," He sighed. "I just want her to be safe."   
  
"I know you do Antony. But taking your aggravations out on Wolf isn't going to help the matter. Just trust and believe that he'll bring her safely home." Wendell patted Tony on the back and turned to leave the room. "Get some sleep and food Antony, you look terrible."   
  
Indeed he did. Tony nodded and headed off to his room as well, thinking of Virginia. Finally, after spending half the night thinking about it, he agreed with Wendell. If anyone could save Virginia, it was Wolf.  
  
  



	34. Dancing Slippers

Virginia twisted her neck towards her right as she awoke, immediately noticing a tender soreness. He throat was dry and her head was aching. When she went to rub her head, Virginia felt her wrists securely held down by manacles, and then noticed her ankles were as well. When her equilibrium was restored, she also realized that she was sitting upright in a hard wooden chair that was very uncomfortable.   
  
Virginia gasped and her eyes flew open in memory. The room was too familiar, a closet filled with hundreds of shoes was to her right where an enormous fireplace sat near it. She shook her head in doubt and worry, it was the exact same room that she woke up in when the Trolls had fist captured her.  
  
She craned her neck around the room and discovered that she was alone and unguarded. She tested the restraints and found they were just as tight as they had been the first time. Virginia just hoped that another pink package would come into the window and provide her with an escape. It wasn't very likely, but she still hoped.   
  
She wondered how much time had passed since they caught her trying to escape. She felt like she had been asleep forever. She was groggy and had a terrible taste in her mouth. She was thirsty and had to go to the bathroom badly, even though she knew there wasn't that much of a chance they'd let her out and escort her to the lady's room.   
  
Suddenly, the heavy iron door swung open and Ann strolled in very casually, barely acknowledging Virginia at all. After a moment or two after Ann had surveyed the room and glanced to make sure that Virginia was properly held down, she walked up to her and pulled her hand up into a wide arc before bringing it rapidly down on Virginia's cheek.   
  
Virginia's head was snapped to the other side of the chair where the left side of her face made quick contact with the wood. The sound of her skin being slapped pierced her ears, but was dulled by the feeling of heat and pain on her face. She longed to rub it, to stop from throbbing, but with her hands held down by the tight iron, she was only left to hope that it would stop hurting.  
  
"Maybe that will teach you not to try another stunt like that again." Ann said coldly referring to Virginia's attempt to escape. She swung around and approached the fireplace. Wood was already stacked inside and there were ashes from the previous fire below to aid the new one. Ann took a match and struck it against the cobblestone floor, instantly gaining a flame. She gently placed it against the wood and started a fire.  
  
Virginia's eyes flew over to the iron slippers that were placed on the shelf with the other shoes and felt a sudden urge to stall whatever Ann was planning to do. "I don't understand why you're doing all this to me. It wasn't like I killed her myself! It wasn't my fault!" She yelled.   
  
Ann said nothing for a moment, she only kept her gaze transfixed on the fire that was growing in front of her. With a hard voice, she spoke to Virginia with her back to her. "How many times do I have to tell you?" She paused and then whipped around and stared at Virginia. "If you hadn't made Sally lose the contest, which she deserved to win, Wilfred wouldn't have killed her!"   
  
Virginia scoffed. At least she knew that Wilfred actually carried out the murder, not her. "Why am I to blame!? Do this to him!"   
  
"No, he did that to her because she destroyed the well. She deserved some of the punishment. But don't you see? If it weren't for you, Sally wouldn't have destroyed it! The Peep's wouldn't have been driven out of town! It's your fault."  
  
Virginia felt herself slump in her chair and another blast of sudden memory and regret hit her. //"If it wasn't for you..."// and //"You were nothing but an accident."// It was all too familiar, all too clear and all too painful. Virginia turned away, not being able to find the voice to argue with her again. She did deserve to pay, she had killed two people. Whether or not she actually did the deed against Sally, didn't matter, the fact was that because of her, Sally was dead.  
  
Ann hid her smile as she saw Virginia turn away, guilt spread across her face. She saw her red hand print that was clearly marked across her face from the hit she gave her and it was like she had branded Virginia. It caused her to bit her lip to keep from smiling wholeheartedly. She was trying to make Virginia feel the way she should and it wouldn't help to start laughing and showing joy.   
  
Ann turned away and slowly made her way over to the shoes in the closet, taking her time to look for a certain pair in particular. When she knew that Virginia was watching she slowly picked up the cold iron slippers and looked them over. She all ready knew plenty about them, but was delaying to cause Virginia to tense. Ann knew of the story between Virginia and the Trolls with those very slippers, she knew that Virginia wouldn't be pleased to see her place them on the fire.  
  
But she did so anyway. Ann placed a pair of tongs near the fire and turned to see Virginia staring at the shoes, her eyes wide and her mouth parted slightly. Ann had to bite her tongue from smiling again, but a small grin slipped through her grasp and went across her face in display of her amusement.   
  
"You know the story behind those, right? What they can make a person do?" Ann ask coyly.   
  
Virginia turned her gaze off of the shoes that were atop the flames and glared at Ann. She quickly twisted back to her shackles and tried to squeeze her hands through them again or undo the clasp that was so close to her.   
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. The iron will only rub your wrists and soon they will begin to ache and burn." She said as she walked around the room. Her farming accent that Sally had seemed to show more and more every time she talked, probably because Virginia was realizing how much alike in pain and torture they were. Living to see others suffer.   
  
"You're a lot like your sister." Virginia mumbled, more to herself than to Ann, simply as an observation that didn't mean to burn through Ann like it did.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ann asked, flushing slightly. Sally had such a reputation in Little Lamb Village that wasn't one anyone wanted to have themselves. To be compared to Sally in any way was low and degrading.   
  
"I said, you're a lot like your sister" Virginia said, exasperatedly as she twisted her wrists around again, desperately trying to free a hand. She hadn't realized the meaning of her words like Ann certainly did.   
  
Ann felt her eyes burn. She instantly felt a heavy weight of new anger flood her chest and make her hands clench. Yes, she was avenging her sister's death, but mostly because her family was banned because of Virginia. "How dare you!" Ann screamed as she approached Virginia.   
  
Again, Ann's hand swung up into the air and came swiftly down and in contact with Virginia's cheek. She leaned on the arm rests of the chair, only inches from Virginia's face. She herself could almost feel the heat off the brisk contact she had made.  
  
It being all ready sore and red, Virginia immediately let out a yelp in pain as her cheek received another hit, sending her to the side of the chair again. The throbbing on her cheek never seemed to cease, it kept getting worse and worse, hotter and hotter. Ann had struck so hard that she could feel the pain all the way down to her cheekbone.   
  
Without free hands, Virginia was unable to retaliate, until an idea came into her head. Before she thought through it logically, Virginia welled up the strength and pulled her head back. Ann didn't have enough time to move as suddenly Virginia spat on Ann's face, a smile of defiance slid up her mouth as she watched Ann grimace away.  
  
Ann flew back and wiped the spit off her face, trying to reclaim her dignity, but it was all ready gone. "I'm going to make you regret that you little goblin!" The words were so familiar to Ann that they came out without a thought to them. Then she realized that Sally said that quiet often when she was angry with someone. She was copying her sister's words. She was becoming her!   
  
Ann felt enraged and terribly angered. She wanted to slap Virginia again, punch her, kick her ... spit on her! She wanted to make her live through pain like she was, but couldn't decide on the best form. Until, her eyes fell upon the red slippers sitting quietly on the flames of the fire. She wiped the remaining spit from her face and let her eyes wander to the slippers knowing Virginia was following her gaze.  
  
Ann picked up the tongs in her hands and then picked up the slipper with them. They were so hot that they sizzled on the tongs and threatened to burn right through them. Ann smiled. Perfect.  
  
She walked back over to Virginia, whose smile had completely vanished off her face. The slap mark seemed to show darker now that the rest of Virginia's face had gone pale. Ann's smile grew.   
  
She waved the slippers suggestively in front of Virginia's feet and then softly said to her; "Let's see how well you can dance."  
  
  



	35. Rescue is at Hand

Virginia clenched the arms of the chair, turning her knuckles white. It was then that she felt a cold draft run across her feet, making her aware that her shoes had all ready been taking off. Ann was carefully carrying one of the slippers over to her while the other sat idly on the ground. As she watched it sit on the cobblestone, she was shocked and incredibly terrified as she saw it sear a black print into the floor.   
  
"Don't you dare!" She managed to say through clenched teeth. She tried to move her feet away from her, but cold shackles held them down. Virginia struggled in the chair, desperately trying to free herself before it was too late. As Ann lowered one of the slippers by her right foot, Virginia could feel the heat that was radiating off of it, a horrible swell of fear and anger fumed inside her.   
  
Just as Ann was about to unbuckled Virginia's restraint on her foot, there was shouting and yelling down the hall where several trolls in a heated argument of some sort. Ann glanced down at Virginia, whose chest was raising and falling so quickly from what Ann had planned to do, it made her smile again.  
  
The shouts continued and Ann felt another sense of irritation cover her. Couldn't they do anything right? Ann sighed exasperatedly and with the tongs she picked up the other shoe and carried them both back to the fire. She placed them gently above a huge flame and then tossed the tongs to the ground.   
  
"Don't worry," She said over sweetly. "I'll be just a moment." Her expression changed as she glared out the door and stormed out of the room.  
  
Virginia watched for a few seconds and the eagerly started to work on her manacles again. She almost had gotten them off before, but Wolf had freed her before she needed to make herself slip out of them. It was up to her now.  
  
She twisted, pulled, turned, pushed, and scrunched her hands up to fit through, but had no avail. Ann was right, the iron started to rub on her skin and made it hot and sore. Virginia let out a final grunt of anger as she tried one last time, but achieved nothing.  
  
"I'm in the hands of a maniac." She said quietly to herself as she watched the slippers on the fireplace. There was no escape. There was no hope. Virginia felt a rush of coldness fly up her spine as she came to terms with what was going to happen. Ann wasn't going to stop until she was dead, that she knew.   
  
Virginia shut her eyes tightly and banged her head against the hard wood behind her, resulting in a dull pain. "What am I going to do?" She mumbled to herself. She heard the voices quieting down in the hall. Dammit. Seeing no other option, she started to pull on her restraints again, ignoring the thickening pain that was resulting.   
  
Suddenly, two hands clamped down over Virginia's eyes. Her first instinct was to bite them, fearing that it was a Troll's or even Ann's. She immediately refrained from that thought when she heard the voice that followed.  
  
"Guess who!" A husky voice whispered near Virginia's ear, and Virginia found she's couldn't hold back her smile. The hands moved and Wolf rested his chin on the back of the chair. "You would think that after one escape before, they'd board up that window."   
  
"Oh my God, Wolf! I thought you were dead!" She said quietly when she saw his face, it was so surprising, and she couldn't do much of anything but stare at him. He really had come to save her, and she wasn't going to be killed by a silly shepherdess. Well, that's what she kept telling herself.  
  
"Am I the only one getting a strong case of déjà vu?" He asked softly as he moved to the front of the chair and quickly undid Virginia's restraints. As soon as they were off, she flew into her arms and hugged him tightly.  
  
"I've missed you so much." She said as she clung to him, refusing to let go. It felt so warm to be in his arms again, safe and welcome. She held onto him, running her hands through his hair and over his back. She wanted to be absolutely sure that he was real, standing there and rescuing her again.  
  
"I've missed you too." Wolf whispered as he ran his hands through her short hair and kissed the top of her head. "Are you all right?" He asked, his voice was covered in fear and concern. He ran his hands down her back and then to her abdomen.  
  
"Yeah, we're fine." Both Virginia and Wolf smiled and pulled in for a kiss. It was long and tender, neither wanting to break the embrace. Virginia had a million questions to ask Wolf, but they could wait, this was all that mattered at the time.  
  
When they broke, both stared into each other's eyes as Wolf ran his hand down her face. Their reunion was broken when the sound of voices elevated and started to come towards the door. "Come on, let's go." Wolf grabbed her hand and rushed her over to the window.   
  
"Wait, I need my shoes." Virginia rushed back into the room and over near the door. She ignored Wolf's attempts to stop her, she needed them. The terrain was terrible once outside the palace, she knew that from before. Besides, they had time. Maybe not much, but they still had some.  
  
"Virginia! Forget them! Let's go!" He shouted, choosing not to mention how many trolls were coming down the hall. They were coming in close and fast; there wasn't enough time. Wolf jumped down from the parapet and halfway followed Virginia.   
  
Just as she grabbed them, the doors swung open, Ann in front and followed by several trolls, all armed with heavy weapons. Virginia backed up into Wolf and the two of them quickly made their way over to the window. As they looked down, they were shocked and dismayed to see dozens of trolls lined up at the base of the balcony, pulling on the rope that Wolf had tied. After several tight jerks on it, the rope finally gave and fell down to the ground, landing in a heavy heap.   
  
They were completely trapped.  
  
Wolf put Virginia behind him and backed her up to the ledge of the balcony. Wolf quickly counted, there were seven trolls and a shepherdess, who he immediately could tell was related to Sally, there was no mistaking that scent.   
  
"Ahhh, Wolf, it's a pleasure that you could join us today." Ann said as she and the trolls approached Virginia and Wolf closer. "Perhaps you would like to participate in the activities planned for today. We've got plenty of dancing prepared." Ann smiled at Virginia.  
  
"Go to Hell!" Virginia yelled from behind Wolf.   
  
"Tsk. Tsk. That's not very polite." Ann turned and faced the trolls, addressing each one of them. "Kill the wolf and bring her to me." Ann made her way through the crowd of trolls and to the back of the room to escape the massacre. She crossed her arms over her chest and smiled proudly, this was the way she wanted it. Finally, things were going the way she had planned all along, and there was nothing to stop her.  
  
Virginia clutched onto Wolf harder than she had ever done before. She thought that she had lost him once before, she wasn't ready to let it happen again. As the trolls advanced, Virginia dropped her gaze below, the trolls had disappeared! Virginia was about to suggest to Wolf that they go down the balcony, but strangely, the shouting had resumed in the hall, only much louder and it mixed with the banging of metal.   
  
Virginia and Wolf weren't the only ones to hear it, the trolls that had been advancing on them, turned to the doors as well. Wolf took one of Virginia's hands that were wrapped around him and gave it a reassuring squeeze.  
  
The doors in the room burst open and soldiers came into the room, fighting against the trolls that turned to attack. Ann screamed as the battle suddenly shifted to her direction, and she found herself right in the middle of the clanging swords and shields. The soldiers all wore the symbol of the House of White.   
  
Wolf turned to Virginia and smiled. She looked at the soldiers in awe, stunned of their timing. "You didn't think that I didn't come prepared?" Wolf asked her. Virginia was about to answer, when a figure she spotted came into the room.  
  
"Dad!?" Virginia shouted as she saw him, covered in armor and holding a large sword in his hand. It was so unlike his normal frumpish style, and that's what caught Virginia off guard.  
  
"Oh, Virginia. Are you all right." He asked as he hurried over to her and hugged her tightly.   
  
"I'm fine." She breathed, still shocked at the massive turn of events.  
  
"Good. Come on, let's get you out of here." Tony said. Both he and Wolf helped Virginia to the door through the battle that was taking place. The trolls were fighting the soldiers with their strength and not their brains. The men of Wendell were escaping the strong brutes with simple battle moves that the Trolls were too slow to block. The battle was practically even.  
  
Swords clashed with shields and the sound of screams as skin was being pierced clouded Virginia's mind, it was completely horrible. Shouts and obscene language was being thrown around as the fight carried on, no one paying much attention to the three that were heading for the door, except for Ann.  
  
"No!" Ann shouted as she saw Virginia. "She's not getting away!" She declared before making her way over to her. Just before she got within a few feet of them, Ann pulled out a small dagger that was hidden inside her boot. She concealed it in her hand and hurried over to them.   
  
Just as Ann dove through the crowed, aiming to tackle Virginia, Wolf's senses picked up on the danger and pushed Virginia out of the way. Wolf and Ann tumbled to the floor near the roaring fire away from most of the fight. Seeing that Virginia was not beneath him, and Wolf was, Ann's temper rose to the extreme.   
  
Ann took the dagger from her hand and aimed it over Wolf's heart. "No one is going to stop me! Especially not a wolf!" She yelled through her clenched teeth. As much as Wolf fought her, she had an advantage. Wolf was completely tired and exhausted. He was weak from his quest and his arm was still healing from the hit he took from the ax. The dagger was coming closer each second.  
  
"Hey Ann!" Virginia shouted behind her. On instinct, Ann halfway turned only to be smashed in the face by the pair of tongs that she had discarded previously. The clamp that hit her face struck her cheekbone with full force and set her flying back onto the floor, tumbling off of Wolf.   
  
In her effort to keep herself from falling, her hands reflexively flew to grab something, anything. Momentarily forgetting the dagger was in her hand, it flew down and broke through flesh. Both taken off guard, Wolf and Ann stared at the bloody dagger as she pulled it out from deep inside Wolf's stomach.  



	36. White

After the realization dawned on him, Wolf felt an almost instant pain dig through his body. The dagger had gone deep inside his stomach and nearly threatened to punch right through him. He could tell by Ann's expression that she was almost as surprised as he was that it had gone through, her face was blank and emotionless, the rage that had consumed her moments before had vanished.   
  
Wolf was half aware of Virginia's screams and Tony's moral support as they rushed over to him. Ann backed away and stared at the dagger that was still clutched in her hand like it was a foreign object she had never seen. With another gaze to Wolf and then back to the weapon she held, Ann dropped it on the ground and ran.  
  
Virginia had to hold herself back from chasing after her, there were much more important things to attend to at the moment. As Virginia got closer to Wolf's crumpled form, the first thing she noticed was all the blood that had covered his clothes and the cobblestone floor. It seeped into the cracks that conjoined the stones and was running like a river, outlining each block.   
  
Wolf's hands covered the wound on instinct, trying to stop the blood loss and the pain. It was unbearable. His stomach was clenching and his forehead was sweating. He curled himself into a ball and held the wound as best as he could.   
  
Virginia didn't know what to do, she felt so helpless and confused. She bent down next to Wolf and tried to disentangle him from his position, but he wouldn't budge. His face was pain and scrunched up in desperate pain, she could feel her own stomach twisting as she tried to examine him.   
  
"I'm going to go find Wendell." Tony said quickly as he rushed out of the room. Virginia nodded and attempted to try and help Wolf again.   
  
Finally, he shifted over and Virginia was able to see the damage that Ann had done. The blood was flowing everywhere and didn't seem to ever stop. Wolf's hands and clothes were covered in the dark oily red. Virginia gently lifted up his shirt and folded it over the top half of the wound. She nearly retched as she saw the dagger's mark that it had made on him, the hole was no longer than two inches wide, but refused to stop bleeding. To Virginia's complete dismay, she realized that Ann must've punctured an organ.   
  
"Virginia?" Came Wolf's raspy voice. His head was on the stone floor and his hair was glistened back from sweat. His face was a deathly pale and his eyes were clouded.  
  
"What?" She asked gently in reply as she surveyed his puncture again. She busied herself with trying to fix the injury instead of looking at his face. It was to unbearable for her to look at, it was too frightened. She had never seen him like that, and never wanted to again.  
  
"I'm not going to ma--"  
  
"Don't talk like that!" She turned and made herself look into his eyes. "You're going to be fine." She wished that she had sounded more confident in her words than she did. She also wished that she could believe them.   
  
"Virginia," He tried to continue, but another wave of pain made him wince away and clutch his stomach again. When it somewhat passed, he continued. "A wolf goes by his instincts, and I know. I can tell." Virginia shook her head at him, trying to find the words that could convince herself and him.   
  
"We're going to get you out of here, and you'll be fine." Virginia said softly, even she could sense her fear dripping through her voice. Their conversation was muffled by the constant clanging of the metal from the battle that was still going in the background, but neither paid attention to it.  
  
The blood continued to run from his stomach, even though they both tried to stop it. The bleeding wasn't just from the dagger's hole, it was from the punctured organ which was making him bleed internally besides. As Virginia clasped her hand over his, he lifted his own and gently squeezed hers in reply.   
  
Wolf's body began to tremble slightly and his breathing began ragged. The pain was strangely passing, he could barely feel it anymore. His eyes were becoming heavy and threatened to close on him, but he held them open, refusing to give in. Virginia couldn't hold back the tears anymore, her emotions took the best of her. First the tears just blocked her vision and blurred everything in front of her, but then they soon flooded and ran down her cheeks.   
  
"Oh, Virginia don't cry." He soothed. "Everything will be okay." He whispered to her as he found that his voice was leaving him. "Just promise me," He stopped as a coughing fit took over and he had to gather himself a moment before continuing. "Make sure that our cub has a good life,"   
  
He wasn't done, but all ready Virginia was shaking her head and pleading for him to stop. She hated good-byes and lately, she had been experiencing too many of them. "Wolf, stop. You're going to be okay." It was a failed attempt to calm them down.   
  
A heavy veil of black threatened to cover Wolf's eyes as he realized that his pain was completely gone, but the terrible thing was the loss of feeling in most of his body that went along with it. He felt cold and saw his body tremble deeper than before.   
  
His chest was rising and falling in heavy heaves just in attempt to breathe. His heart hurt the most when he saw Virginia's pain as she looked at him and held his hand tightly. It was no use, he was slipping away and it was only a matter of time. He quickly memorized Virginia's face and cherished the time that he was blessed to share with her.  
  
"Virginia," He whispered with a small smile. "I love you."   
  
The trembling subsided and Wolf shut his eyes. Virginia's breath increased as she watched him slip away. She clutched his shirt and buried her face in his chest and sobbed. "Wolf, no." She mumbled between her wracking sobs. She felt it happening all over again and couldn't help but to repeat herself. "Please, don't go." She whispered. It wasn't fair. When she lost her mother, Wolf was there to help her through it. Now he was gone and she didn't want to accept it.   
  
Virginia wasn't sure how long she was bent over him, but when she finally felt that she had no more tears left to cry inside of her, she lifted her head off of his shirt. As she looked over his still face, another wave of terrible emotions threatened to take her.   
  
Before she could give into them, Virginia blinked and found herself in a different place, one she had never been to before, hollow and empty. It was cold and the air was thin, he own breath coming out in clouds before her face. She stood up and looked around. Wolf was gone, so was the battle between Wendell's men and the Trolls. The entire room was gone.   
  
Virginia shuddered against the frigid air and hugged herself to conserve heat. As she looked around, she wasn't sure where she was. The room she was in was completely a pure white. It never seemed to end, nor did it seem to change color. White, just white.   
  
Virginia spun herself in a circle as she looked at every different direction and tried to figure where to go. He voice had long since left her when Wolf had passed, now she wasn't sure whether to try and scream in frustration or yell for help. Suddenly something cold fell on top of Virginia's arm.   
  
As she looked down, she saw a single snowflake. It sat on her skin for a suspended moment before it finally melted away from her warmth. After that one, several more began to fall on her and blanketed her hair with white dots. She looked up to see if there were clouds above, but it was a solid white ceiling, one that she couldn't tell where it ended. Her breath came out in heavier, thicker clouds as the temperature dropped. As Virginia spun around again, she came face to face with a smile.  
  
"Hello Virginia." A calm rich voice said. Virginia backed away and marveled at the person in front of her. Her eyes were wide open as she looked at Snow White.   
  
"Why am I here?" She asked. Her voice was noticeably raw from her crying and her eyes were still red. She was amazed that she even found her voice at all.   
  
"I think you know." She paused. "I saw what happened." Snow White said as she circled Virginia.   
  
"Then, you can help?" Virginia asked hopefully. Her question was almost desperate and pleading, begging for Snow White to help.   
  
"I wish I could, but I can't." Snow White said with a deep depression in her eyes. Virginia felt a new sense of irritation burn inside her and fuel her anger.   
  
"What!? But I thought you were my Fairy Godmother or something! You have magic, use it!" She snapped. Snow White's eyes met with Virginia and silently scolded her for her outburst.   
  
"I have magic, yes. But I can't change things that were meant to happen."   
  
"But it's not fair." Virginia said. He eyes started to water again and she heard herself whine, but at that moment, she didn't care. "He shouldn't have died like that."   
  
"I agree Virginia, and it wasn't supposed to happen." Snow White said as she came next to Virginia.   
  
"But you just said," Virginia asked, her mind was puzzled and in utter confusion.   
  
"All things happen for a reason, that I cannot change. Wolf wasn't supposed to die so early. He wouldn't have, if..." Snow White's voice drifted off and she waited for all the information that she had given Virginia to sink in.   
  
"If what?" Virginia questioned after a moment. She dropped her arms from her chest, not really feeling cold anymore. The snow continued to fall, but as they landed on her skin, she didn't feel the cold pinpoints like usual.  
  
"If ... someone hadn't interfered." She finished. "I would bring him back Virginia, please understand that. But I can't."   
  
"Why not?" Virginia's voice was soft and fragile, what Snow White was saying wasn't adding up.   
  
"Because of the Swamp Witch." Snow White said with disdain in her voice and a hidden loathing for her. Her usual melodious voice was hardened by the mention of that name, a sudden change that only the Swamp Witch could bring out in her.  
  
"The Swamp Witch?" Virginia repeated, not sure if she was hearing right. Snow White nodded and explained the quest that her father and Wolf had gone on to save her. She explained about the mirror, the crystals and led all the way up to Wolf's confrontation with the Swamp Witch.   
  
"So you see Virginia, in that brisk contact between them, Wolf's mind was clouded and his common sense was ripped from him. For just that moment, so she could take what she wanted. She dealt the deadly blow of the dagger, not Ann. Ann never had any intention of killing Wolf like that."  
  
Virginia wanted to protest and list off what Ann had done to her, but chose not to. The pieces were starting to fit together and hope was returning to her. There still could be a way to save Wolf. Before she could ask, Snow White was all ready answering.  
  
"To save Wolf from her, you have to destroy her. If you can do that, you can make her release his soul." She said and brought out a tiny vial, inside there was a light yellow substance. "This pollen came from the flower that I gave Wendell all those years ago. It's very powerful and very rare. To defeat the Swamp Witch, you simply need to pour this on her, and the evil will be eliminated. She will cease to exist."   
  
It sounded so simple, such an easy task. Virginia knew better. She had been down into that cellar before, and hoped that she would never have to travel deep into it's depths again. Now that the task was before her, she was only left to dive right in and go for it. Virginia nodded and took the vial from Snow White. She looked it over carefully and then held onto it tightly.  
  
"You must beware the Swamp Witch. She will try anything to get you to give up your own soul as well." Snow White cautioned her. "And with your baby, you need to be even more careful." Virginia nodded. "Now go, you don't have much time before she'll become strong enough to block it." Snow White gave her and encouraging push.   
  
"But how do I..." As soon as she turned to face Snow White again, she saw that she was all ready gone. Virginia was left in the blistering cold room alone again and began to notice the snow that was falling and the strong winds again. The next time Virginia blinked and opened her eyes, she found herself over Wolf's body again, clutching the vial in her palm.  
  
As she looked around the room, the battle had long since stopped and it was almost empty. Wendell and Tony came rushing into the room, instantly saddened by the scene in front of them. Their pace was slowed and Tony went over to console Virginia, but instead of seeing depression and loss, he saw determination.   
  
  
  



	37. Reliving a Memory

When Virginia met her father's gaze, she was somewhat given a new sense of hope. In such a sudden exchange of expressions between the two, she knew that she could complete what she had to do, having his faith was just enough. Virginia had told her father and Wendell what had happened when Wolf died and why she had to go.   
  
Wendell had understood, but Tony was persistent on making sure she'd be all right and fretted over every complication he could think of. He had known about Virginia's meeting with Snow White the last time and how useful it had been so he didn't doubt her. But of all places, the Deadly Swamp? It was the very last place he wanted her to go.  
  
Tony and her hugged briefly, but tightly, for a few moments before breaking. "Are you sure you want to do this alone?" He asked her as the broke, Virginia sighed patiently. He had asked her that more than a hundred times since she first told them. She nodded her reply, understanding his fears. "That witch is capable of anything." He warned. In his own way, he was trying to persuade Virginia to allow someone to come with her and make sure that nothing happened in the Deadly Swamp, but deep down, he knew that she had to complete the task alone.   
  
He had always promised himself after Christine had left that he wouldn't let any harm come to his little girl. By letting her take off alone, he felt that he was breaking that promise somehow. Virginia nodded again; her eyes were strong and pure, showing no trace of doubtfulness in herself, he was very glad to see that.   
  
"I can do it." Virginia said defiantly, her tone was daring anything or anyone to stop her. Tony believed it. After everything that she had accomplished for the Nine Kingdoms in the last month, he had no doubt that she would be able to stop the Swamp Witch again.   
  
"I know you can sweetie." He said with a small smile and kissed the top of her head. "Just be careful." He pulled her in for another long hug before letting her go.   
  
"I will." She smile reassuringly. "I'm bringing him back." She declared. Virginia stepped backwards and headed to her own carriage that Wendell had given her to travel to the swamp. She waved lightly to him.  
  
"I know you will." Tony said as he watched Virginia get into the carriage. With a mighty whack, the horses neighed and headed down the rocky terrain of the Troll Kingdom. When the carriage was too small in the distance for Tony to make out the figures on top, he turned back towards Wendell who was talking with the Trolls and had been for quite some time. He approached them, but found he could only catch the tail end of their conversation.  
  
"So..." Burly began thickly. "The witch didn't kill our dad?" He asked Wendell. After finding the best way to break the news to them, Wendell had explained everything from the breakout when he was first turned into a dog all the way up to when their father died.   
  
"No. And she's not a witch at all." Wendell said, trying to clear Virginia's name. Burly and his siblings exchanged ashamed glances before getting caught up in their own conversation. "Oh, Anthony," He turned towards Tony and led him over to the carriage. "Are you ready to go?"   
  
"Yeah, I guess so." He said with a preoccupied expression on his face. Wendell stopped and turned to face him.  
  
"What is it?" He asked.  
  
"I would just like to know where Ann disappeared to." Tony said as he scratched his stubby chin. "It was too strange." Tony noted, mostly to himself than to Wendell.   
  
"I suppose so, but I do believe we have other difficulties to be dealing with." Wendell said as he got inside the carriage. Tony nodded solemnly and watched the distance where Virginia's carriage had gone.   
  
He climbed inside the carriage and shut the door. "I know Wendell, I know."   
  
  
  
Virginia rested her against the red silky fabric that lined the sides of the carriage and watched the bumpy land that went by. Everything that had been happening to her didn't allow her any time to herself to just, think. She sighed shakily as her emotions threatened to get the best of her, but she fought them back and concentrated on what she had to do.  
  
She fished into her pocket and dug out the tiny vial that Snow White had given her. It was no more than three inches wide and was very thin, but it seemed to weigh a lot more. Virginia turned it over several times and studied it from various angles before placing it back in her pocket and turning her attention back to the land ahead.  
  
Her expression became terribly crestfallen as she thought about Wolf. He was really gone. This wasn't the same thing as when she told him to leave and they were separated for a few days. This time, life and death separated them. He was really gone.  
  
She perked up a bit when she changed her thoughts over to her time with Snow White and played the entire conversation over and over in her mind to recall and useful information that she said. There was a way to bring him back and she knew that she would do everything to see it happen. Virginia felt an instant loathing as she thought of Ann and that dagger she had gripped tightly in her hands when her and Wolf fought.  
  
It was like the entire scene was played in slow motion as it happened. Virginia saw the blade coming down in a fatal swoop as Ann squirmed about to regain her balance. She watched it happen, but didn't know how to stop it or how to save him from it. If he hadn't pushed her out of the way... Virginia suddenly became choked up as she realized that Wolf had saved her yet again.   
  
She turned her attention to the setting sun that shined brightly off in the distance with an amber glow. As the carriage continued to creep closer and closer to the swamp, the sun set lower into the mountainous peaks that crested the hills ahead. Virginia felt her eyes falling and getting heavier, but did nothing to stop them. She caught one last glimpse of the pinkish sky and the puffy orange clouds before drifting into sleep.  
  
  
Virginia woke not too pleasantly as the carriage came to a sudden halt and the door flew open in a quick burst. She snapped herself awake and stepped out of the carriage. The footman helped her down to the ground before shutting the door and resuming his post.  
  
"This is as far as we'll go, Milady." The footman said. "You've had luck inside, but not too many others have." He said as is glance flew between Virginia and the swamp.  
  
"Oh, I understand." Virginia said. Her gaze never once left the opening to the swamp. She could all ready feel a cold chill run up her spine. The sun had set and the stars were out. To Virginia's complete dismay, she realized how dark and cold it was going to be inside. Without even thinking another thought, Virginia set off inside and ignored the footman's warnings. She had heard them before and overcame them; she'd do it again. She only hoped that she'd be as successful as she made herself believe.  
  
As soon as she crept inside the green dense forest, a blast of humid cold air rushed up to meet her and caused her to cross her arms over her chest. She looked all around her, not focusing on any one thing but trying to steady her nerves. She stumbled a few times over rotted logs that protruded out of the ground and lost her bearings more than once, but was traveling with high hopes.  
  
Everything seemed so different when she traveled it backwards. The last time she had came through the back end of the swamp; everything seemed brighter and lush, now it seemed dead and rotting. She came around several pools of water and many patches of mushrooms, but they didn't call out to her or offer her eggs and swamp water.  
  
The swamp was very dark and gloomy at night, without the occasional sun spots climbing through the heavy forest canopy, she had no light compared to the minimum she had before. Virginia continued to cautiously make her way through the swamp and avoided anything that looked too good to be true, knowing automatically that it was a trap.  
  
When Virginia rounded another bend, she stopped dead in her tracks and stared. The Swamp Witch's Cottage. She frowned and her face filled with hate and rage, wanting nothing more than to unleash her feelings at the dead hag that lived inside.   
  
She felt an eerie sense of déjà vu as she silently made her way up to the tiny house and opened the door without allowing herself to stop. She noticed that Acorn had long since left when all she found was a single candle that was sitting idly on the table.   
  
Virginia closed the door behind her and tried to avoid any cracks in the wood floor to give herself the element of surprise. Despite her efforts, her presence was already known. As Virginia tried to calm her nerves and release the tension in her arms to open the cellar door, she heard a familiar and hated voice that seemed to sing to her from below.  
  
"Virginia..."  



	38. Simply Irresistible

  
Virginia jumped back and forced herself to calm down. She kept reminding herself that it wasn't the first time that she had been in the Swamp Witch's cottage and things like that were to be expected. Virginia's hand met the handles of the cellar doors and clutched them tightly. She took a deep breath and gently lifted them up and peered inside.  
  
Heavy clouds of mist swirled on the staircase and blocked her vision from seeing deeper into the tomb. She stared down at the first step and had to force her leg to move. When she got past the first step, she swallowed down a heavy weight that blocked her throat. When she made it halfway down, Virginia stopped and turned back around to look up at the entrance. It wasn't too late; she could still go and get help. Virginia nodded to herself and turned to go back up the stairs and find someone to come with her, she found that other things besides fear were pushing her up. Her memories of the last encounter were more than vivid in her mind.   
  
Before she reached the top, the deathly silence that filled the tomb besides the faint dripping was broken by a faint voice. Virginia ... Where are you going, Virginia?" Virginia froze in place and shut her eyes to the sound. She never wanted to hear that voice again, but she didn't get her wish. "I know you came to see me, child. Come and talk."  
  
Virginia forced herself to turn back towards the bottom of the cellar and swallowed. She shut her eyes tightly and reminded herself why she was there and what she needed to do. Those few thoughts helped to push herself down to the bottom of the stairs and break through the mist.   
  
The humid air that had hung at the top inside the house had faded drastically away and only a cool mist and a drafty breeze wafted by. Cobwebs covered the stone walls where the dripping water failed to touch, giving it another large feeling of death. As Virginia reached the iron gate, she gently pushed it open and stepped forward into the tomb.  
  
The gate squeaked loudly as it opened and swung back with her very light push. The Swamp Witch still rested in the middle of the room, the exact same as when Virginia had seen her last. Only, there was something different about her, something that was making Virginia's skin crawl. The Swamp Witch seemed more alive, even though it was impossible. Her mind was confused with the new events she was seeing and was broken out of her thoughts as the old voice spoke once again.  
  
"Virginia." She sighed in a superficial sweet tone. Her eyes seemed to shift over from her previous stare at the ceiling and over to meet Virginia's. "I always knew that you would return to me." Virginia felt he throat tighten and instinctively took another step back. Her hand reached into her pocket and fingered the vial inside, planning on when to take it out and use it. "You can have the power, Virginia. You can be so much stronger than your mother was."  
  
Her hate for the Swamp Witch seemed to escalate to a new high. Due to her remark about her mother, Virginia was once again reminded that because of the Swamp Witch, her mother had left her. The evil witch that was in front of her killed two people in her life that meant so much to her. First her mother, and then Wolf. Virginia's loathing for the witch was beginning to become uncontrollable and she had to fight herself not to start screaming and punching the old hag.  
  
When the silence continued in the tomb and started to deafen Virginia's ears, she found the voice. "Well, you can think again because I will never do that. I won't do what she did." She spat, unleashing her tone filled with venom and hate.  
  
"But, my dear ... think of the power you can have. You will be given castles and wealth. Everyone will love you and always be under your ever whim. They will be yours to control forever." She promised.  
  
Virginia shook her head but couldn't find the power to sound her denial and rejection of the offer. It was unthinkable, but very appealing. "No!" She thought as she tore her gaze from the Swamp Witch. "Stop being so conceded. She's doing this on purpose." But as hard as she tried to fight it, her eyes met the Swamp Witch's again. The offer was so appealing; it was like having the Troll King's magic shoes all over again.   
  
"Come..." The Swamp Witch's hand became slowly outstretched, inviting Virginia. "Join me, and find the power you seek and crave." Then she was silent and left Virginia to think about what was being given to her. Virginia's hand came up and she watched it with fascination, like it was a foreign object attached to her body. As it came closer and closer to the witch's, she fought it harder and harder.  
  
"Stop it!" Virginia screamed in her mind, but was surprised to learn that it came out of her mouth as well as she ripped her arm away and backed away from her. The Swamp Witch's expression of promise and care faded away and turned to an evil look filled with anger and rage. Virginia backed away so far that her body was pressed against the wall. When the Swamp Witch wouldn't release Virginia's gaze, her anger also rose. "I won't let you do to me what you did to my mother!" Virginia shouted, even louder than her last outburst.  
  
The cellar was still and quiet for a long time, neither Virginia nor the witch moved or spoke. The dripping of swamp water that leaked in from above was the only sound to be heard besides Virginia's heavy breathing. Finally, the eerie silence was broken. "My child, you are strong. Much stronger than your mother was, and it seems that you are expecting one yourself." Virginia's eyes flew open in horror as the witch had spoken of her child in such an interested tone. "I would never harm you or your child, but think of the possibilities for a future between you both. You could be the ruler of the Nine Kingdoms and your child would be the heir." She said quite dramatically.  
  
Virginia's hand flew protectively to her abdomen as the witch continued. "Your baby would live the life you dreamed of, Virginia. Filled with love and power. Don't you want that for it? Don't you want that child to live the best possible life it could?" Virginia's head nodded mechanically as if under some trance. "Gaze into the water and see what my words mean."  
  
The Swamp Witch's eyes motioned over to a pedestal that was set in the corner of the room. Virginia looked at it in confusion, she never remembered it to be there before, nor did she notice it in her conversation with her that moment. She walked over to it; not really feeling her own legs and looked into the rippling water that was resting peacefully on the pedestal like a birdbath.   
  
The water began to ripple and cascade; instantly distorting Virginia's reflection and blurring her own face. The inner part of the pool became suddenly still, while the outside remained to move. Virginia watched in awe as a young boy sat on top of a beautiful golden throne, cultured and proud. She gasped slightly at the form seated next to him, as it was her. She sat in a dark purple dress; a golden crown dressed with various jewels sat perfectly on her head.  
  
Her and her son sat idly on their thrones watching entertainers perform in front of them while a grand buffet of food sat next to them. Musicians played beautiful pieces while many women and men danced before them and then bowed respectfully. Virginia and her son smiled happily together and watched the ball play before the eyes with delight.  
  
The scene ended with one final look at her son smiling with the wealth and power he had gained and then faded to a bright white and the cascades began again, overtaking the once clear look into the future and slowly returning Virginia's face in the present. She looked down at herself and saw the face of a lonely little girl that had simply found a magic dog, but ended up saving the Kingdoms. She didn't want her child to live a life like the one she had been dealt. I she could prevent it, she would. Virginia broke her gaze and turned back towards the Swamp Witch, meeting her eyes again.  
  
"So you see, my dear Virginia, you can become glorious things and make a grand life for your child to come." Virginia felt her head nod as her eyes became entrapped with the Swamp Witch's. "Join me, and it will be yours." The witch's hand became outstretched once again and she motioned Virginia to come closer.  
  
She felt her legs move towards the hand and her own slowly lifting. It was like some terrible curse had been put on her for her entire life, and with this, it would simply fade away and her childhood dreams would come true. She felt like smiling and feeling proud, but instead, her eyes shut suddenly without warning and she instantly saw Snow White pleading with her to stay away.  
  
//Do not do this Virginia. Remember who you are and why you are there. Do not become prey to her monster of evil and coldness. Stop before it's too late.//  
  
And Virginia's eyes flew open, her arm whipped away and she backed up. "Stop doing this to me!" Virginia shouted. "It won't work!" She dug into her pocket and pulled out the vial seeing her time running out, not knowing how much longer she would be able to refuse her. As soon as she held the vial in her hand, a strong bolt of electricity shot through her arm and forced her to drop it.   
  
The vial fell to the floor and began to roll away. Virginia watched in utter confusion, as the small bottle seemed to take on a life of it's own. She glanced at the Swamp Witch and momentarily saw her smile before going after the vial. As she reached the entrance of the cellar where the gate was, she was thrown back several feet by another blast. The rusted iron gate swung directly in front of her face and slammed shut, locking Virginia inside and the vial outside where it came to rest at the base of the stairs.   
  
Virginia got on her hands and knees and stretched her hands through the bars to reach the vial, but it was too far away. She got up and tried to undo the latch, but was horrified to see it had been welded together, the metal twisted and melted. Her hands were still clenched around the iron bars as she turned slowly to the Swamp Witch.   
  
The witch laughed a deep and throaty cackle that made Virginia wince. "Old magic isn't going to work my dear, and you're not leaving," She paused for a moment. "Not now, not ever."  
  
  



	39. Payback

Time seemed to cease completely as Virginia stood by the iron gate, watching the Swamp Witch cackle in her tomb. The vial was too much out of reach and the gate was blocking her from getting it. She didn't know how much time she had left before she wouldn't be able to resist the witch anymore and fall to the same fate Wolf had. Virginia turned back to the gate and bent down, desperately trying to reach the small bottle.   
  
Her shoulders seemed to pull out of their sockets and her arms felt tender and sore, but she continued to try. She shifted her weight and tried the other arm, but it was useless, and the vial was no more than two inches out of reach. Virginia grunted with one final effort before pulling her arm back in and glaring at the Swamp Witch.   
  
"Just give into it, Virginia. It's so much easier." She said gently, her gaze never leaving Virginia.  
  
Virginia had enough. The witch in front of her had caused her so much pain over the years without her mother and then took away the only man she had ever fallen in love with. So many tears had fallen with the gruesome memories made without a mother and then learning she tried to drown her, all because of the evil woman before her. Her anger was threatening to sore to a new height as she looked at the witch.   
  
"And then what!?" She heard herself yell. "End up like you!? Destined to be here forever, stuck beneath a swamp?" Virginia worked herself up so much, her hands were shaking slightly, but she held them at her sides to keep the Swamp Witch from seeing them.  
  
"Oh my dear, you have no idea the power you can gain. The wealth and the respect you can achieve from those you conquer. It can all be yours. Don't you see, I'm giving it to you. I know you can handle the power, it's in your blood. The Nine Kingdoms can be yours to rule and I can give it to you right now." She stated dramatically.   
  
Virginia was suddenly completely enthralled. The rage she had felt a few moments ago had faded away with each promising word that was spoken to her. She was again reminded of what she could really become once she agreed. The deal seemed like it was almost too good to be true, but, her mother had almost accomplished that very thing. Perhaps it was in her blood and she was to continue her mother's work and to finish what she started.   
  
Virginia had proven that she was stronger and smarter than her mother by defeating her at the coronation, maybe she was the next to complete the task. She knew that she couldn't run from her past generations and knowing what her mother had tried to do clicked something in Virginia's mind. If she continued to fight what the witch was trying to give her, it would only become more difficult in the long run to reject something that could make her feel the way she wanted to feel all her life.  
  
As Virginia stared down at the Swamp Witch, she suddenly realized that she had moved from the corner of the room all the way up to her tomb. The revelation startled her for a moment before she became at ease with it. The word Destiny was constantly being thrown into her face and before not too long ago, she didn't realize what that word really meant. Now, she felt as if she did.   
  
Destiny had brought her to find her mother and led her to the Swamp Witch the first time. It had happened again and now she was asked to complete what her mother failed to do. Virginia felt an odd feeling as though she was meant to do it and it was up to her not to let her mother down.  
  
"So child, will you join me and rule the Nine Kingdoms?" She asked as she brought her hand out and reached for Virginia's, inviting her. When Virginia didn't move and only stared at the outstretched hand, she continued. "Remember what can become of you and your son. Think of every thing that will be yours." She said sweetly like an old grandmother giving their grandchild a piece of candy. "It's Destiny."  
  
Virginia had been thinking of destiny for a while and what it meant to her, but as the Swamp Witch said it, Virginia had a suddenly flash and her eyes closed as she winced. She was suddenly sitting in a large dining hall, food and people were scattered everywhere and her father was sitting proudly across from her, and everyone was celebrating and talking joyously. The scene was so familiar, but she strangely had a hard time remembering it, like it was part of her life but was taken from her.   
  
A voice spoke suddenly next to her and she turned her head to find it. It was Wolf smiling at her and stating simply, "It's destiny." before slipping the pearl ring onto her finger. The flash ended and Virginia found herself back in the Swamp Witch's tomb, staring down at the hand and then back at her. Virginia backed away, this wasn't the destiny she was meant to live.   
  
Virginia was there to save Wolf from what the witch had done to him, not to give into her fake promises of grandeur. Wolf's promise to her was real, it was love. He and their baby was her destiny, her future, not to give it all up to end like the Swamp Witch or her own mother. Virginia felt sick at what she had almost done to herself and everyone else she cared about.   
  
"Come my dear Virginia." The Swamp Witch said sensing Virginia's sudden change.   
  
Virginia walked back over to the rusted gate and started to yank on the bars in hopes of breaking the latch. As she looked at it, she realized that it had been welded together, melted into a heap of twisted metal. She bent back down to the floor and tried to reach the vial, but with little avail. Suddenly thinking of something, she sat down on the floor and took off her shoe, scolding herself for not thinking of it sooner.   
  
She placed the shoe in her right hand and pushed it through the bars. Using it like a hook, she used the lip of the shoe to bring the vial over to her. It wavered at first, threatening to roll away again, but as she pushed on it harder, it slid over without another fight. Once it was closer in reach, she stuck her other arm through and pulled it up.   
  
Virginia held the small vial tightly in her hand as she put her shoe back on haphazardly. She walked over to the Swamp Witch, a grin on her face. The witch's on the other hand, was repulsed and worried, her eyes were darting around and trying to find a way to stop her.  
  
"What are you doing my dear?" The Swamp Witch asked trying to stall.  
  
"Paying you back for everything you've done to me." She jerked the cork off the top of the vial and held it over the Swamp Witch. Virginia stared down at the broken woman before her. This was the woman that had dreams of power and lost them. She had to dance in the red hot slippers like she had almost had to do. The witch took her mother from her and make her the evil creature that met Virginia again years later and didn't even remember her. She also killed the man she loved and threatened to take her own free will. And so, Virginia felt no remorse as she took a breath and poured the contents out of the vial.   
  
  



	40. Escape

As soon as the contents left the vial, they immediately swarmed around the Swamp Witch like bees on honey, rather than just plopping onto her like Virginia had previously thought. The swirling motion first seemed light and slow, but the yellow contents soon picked up momentum and were flying all over the room. The speckled miniature spots flew around Virginia and reached the furthest points of the tomb, at first scattering, but soon developed a circular pattern. Virginia shielded herself against them as they started to move rapidly and became a mer blur as they whizzed by.  
  
The Swamp Witch was yelling and screeching at what Virginia had done, trying to figure out a way to stop them. She reached out her hand and grabbed Virginia's arm. She used all her remaining strength to pull her towards her; a venomous glared shined in her eyes. "If I'm going, you're coming down with me." She declared to Virginia.   
  
Virginia let out an angry shriek as she grabbed the Swamp Witch's arm with her free one and twisted it until she let go. She stumbled back, her chest heaving and her eyes darting about as an eerie light started to flood the room. It grew and grew until Virginia could no longer focus on it and had to turn her head away. When her attention was turned towards the opposite wall, she saw that the gate had opened and was slightly rocking back and fourth.  
  
A gale-size wind suddenly picked up as the contents from the vial started to dissipate as the enormous light grew and threatened to consume Virginia. She stumbled over to the gate and grabbed the iron just as the wind started to pull on her. The Swamp Witch's yells turned to agonizing screams as the tomb started to fade away into the light. Her screams became weakened and muffled before they finally stopped. A small smile of triumph was written across Virginia's face as she felt an enormous burden being lifted from her. She had done it. The Swamp Witch was gone for good.  
  
The wind that was pulling on Virginia started to grow stronger and soon she found that her feet had left the ground and she was barley holding onto the rusted iron bars. From the force of the spiraling wind, the metal bars that held the gate together started to bend and crack under it and Virginia's weight. If she didn't get out of there soon, she would fall into the same hole that the witch had fallen in.  
  
Using her summoned strength, Virginia fought against the sucking whirlpool that started to form behind her and slowly climbed the bars like a ladder. She was begging to make progress as she came closer to the stairs, but the light had grown and made Virginia wince and squint her eyes.   
  
A high pitched monotonous howl from the wind filled the tomb and grew louder and louder with each passing moment. Virginia had to fight the terrible urge to cover her ears with her hands and continued to climb up the gate. The wind continued to grow and miscellaneous items from above started to fly down the staircase and into the swirling winds, such as the single candle that was on the table and broken pieces of wood from the cellar doors.   
  
Most pieces missed Virginia, but one stray small chunk of wood flew down and smacked into her knuckle. She let out a yelp and instinctively let go of the bar to favor her hand. It was a mistake she instantly regretted as her other hand struggled to hold on.  
  
Before she could retrieve her grip again, her hand slipped and she found herself falling back and being pulled into the hole in the center of the tomb where the Swamp Witch once rested. Virginia's arms flailed about to stop herself from plummeting, and they finally gabbed onto the very last bar of the gate. She let out a grunt as her body was stopped from falling at the simple inertia threatened to take her down.  
  
The winds seemed to scream as it grew once again in size, the shrieking high pitched tone never ceased and the light made Virginia completely shut her eyes. She made another effort as the wind increased its pull as she started to climb up the gate again.  
  
After what seemed an eternity, she finally made it to the top after a few near hits from debris and almost loosing her grip again. Once she got over the gate, the pull from inside the tomb was lighter and easier to stand on her feet. She quickly climbed the stairs and as soon as she hit the top, the entire house began to shake. The roof was cracking and falling under the immense pressure from the pulling wind while the wooden table tipped over and slide across the floor.   
  
Virginia made a break for the door and flung it open in one simple move. The boards on the floor were raising and twisting, some being pulled out of place. The glass windows broke and shattered to the ground, sending shards of glass flying around the room, some hitting Virginia and piercing her skin.  
  
She ran out of the house just as the blinding light enveloped the entire cottage. She dove away from the house and rolled to the ground. Virginia looked back at the Swamp Witch's house and her eyes flew open. The light was brightly shining out of every window and crack like the sun was inside, making spotlights over the whole swamp. The wood creaked and snapped loudly, first slowly, and then began to speed up. Virginia realized what was going to happen and covered her head with her arms instantly, just as the Swamp Witch's cottage imploded.  
  
  
  



	41. A Deserved Reward

Debris flew everywhere from the cottage, plummeting down on Virginia where she was curled up on the ground. Pieces of broken wood and glass fell with muffled thumps from the soft bed of moss while others made a small splashing sound as the fell into pools of swamp water. When Virginia lifted her head out of her arms, she gasped in surprise at the leveled house.   
  
Everything that stood in it's place, the mirrors, the windows, the door ... it had all been completely destroyed. The only thing that remained was an outline of where the house once was. As she approached the demolished house, she realized that there wasn't any hole for a basement to reside, it hadn't been destroyed, it had vanished.  
  
Virginia looked around at the mess that she had created and instead of feeling ashamed or guilty of what she had done and who she had killed, she felt a small sense of joy. She felt happy knowing that what she did would prevent anyone else from living what she had. No one would loose a family member or a loved one, no one would be left alone at their young age to believe that the abandonment was their fault. The witch was dead for good, her house was destroyed and Virginia was happy.  
  
Virginia started to walk away and think about the long trip ahead, knowing that the carriage had probably left. If not for the tales they had heard about the swamp, then most likely because of the explosion. But she was caught off guard when, suddenly, a small pinpoint of snow landed on her arm and took her attention.  
  
Virginia stared down at it like she had never before seen snow. It was completely out of place in the muggy and humid atmosphere. As it melted away on her skin, she looked up as more began to fall. A white, glowing light illuminated from above and came closer to her, engulfing Virginia inside. Before she could struggle or pull away, she realized that she was no longer in the Deadly Swamp.   
  
The snow continued to fall and Virginia found herself in the same empty place that she was when she last met Snow White. The cold wind blew again and the snow seemed to fall heavier, but this time, a small ray of sun shined down on Virginia and placed a warm glow on her chilled body.  
  
"Hello Virginia." Snow White whispered happily behind her. Virginia spun around and saw her smiling gently at her. "I am proud of what you have done." She spoke as she approached Virginia.  
  
Virginia swallowed and after a minute, spoke. "I'm glad I did it." She said with no resentment in her voice.  
  
"I knew you could. She offered you everything that you could ever want, and you refused. You were able to show how strong your will and mind is, as well as your heart. You've done what many have tried, but failed."  
  
"Destroying the Swamp Witch?" She questioned, finding it hard to believe that anyone would even step foot in her house, much less try and be rid of her.  
  
"No," She sighed with a smile. "You resisted temptation and risen above greed, and because of that your greatest reward is far from what anyone could offer. It's the fact that knowing you were stronger than anything anyone could throw at you. Virginia, you should be glad, for no one else would've been able to accomplish that."   
  
The was a pause in the air as neither said anything. Virginia blushed slightly at her flattering words as they sunk in and smiled. The sun was beginning to shine in the room brighter and the snow was beginning to slow. Virginia suppressed a yawn as she felt a wave of fatigue fly over her. She would be very grateful to go home and curl in bed. Then, another thought occurred to her.  
  
"But, what about Wolf?" She asked. Snow White had said that once the Swamp Witch was gone, she could restore him. Could she still do it? What if she hadn't finished the witch off quickly enough or something went wrong?  
  
"You can relax Virginia, he'll be as good as new in no time. As soon as you destroyed the Swamp Witch, his soul was freed from her evil clutches. I was able to give him his life back, but it will take some time for him to heal from the wound."   
  
Virginia breathed a sigh of relief and came up to Snow White, encircling her in a hug. "Thank you." She whispered and the hug was returned.   
  
"No, thank you, for everything that you have done. For me and the Kingdoms." A hazy glow began to shine. Once Virginia blinked away from the light and reopened her eyes, she found herself in the large throne room in King Wendell's castle. She blinked doubtingly and smiled.  
  
"Virginia!?" A voice shouted in surprise at the other end of the room. Wendell descended his throne and rushed over to her. "Virginia, is that you?" He approached her and gave her a warm hug. "Are you all right?" He asked cautiously.  
  
"I'm fine." She laughed as they broke their embrace.   
  
"Oh, everyone is going to want to see you and hear of how you defeated that witch." He beamed ecstatically. "But first, I believe there is someone who will want to see you."  
  



	42. Resolutions

The hallway was long and tedious. It continued for miles without end or change. It was really beginning to annoy Virginia. Wendell led her down the hall and to Wolf's chamber, all the while, Virginia had to fight the urge not to plow him down and find the room herself. He told her about their trip back and what they had done with Wolf, but nothing really seemed to process in her mind. The only thing she could think about was what she was going to say to Wolf and the sight of just seeing him alive after watching him be killed.   
  
The thought was nerve-wracking. It defied logic and made her extremely confused. For some reason, she kept feeling as though she would open the door and find him the same way that she had seen him last ... cold and dead. Her heart was pounding with joy and anticipation, but past references told her mind otherwise, that she was just crazy for believing it could happen. As much as she was in some denial, her outward appearances and actions told otherwise.  
  
Wendell noticed Virginia's absent expression and so kept the topics light, choosing to stay away from her recent journeys and let her talk about them when she wished to do so. He began to question in his mind why he was even still talking; his words were falling on deaf ears. He also sensed her eagerness to see Wolf at the way she was practically skipping down the hall and saw her eyes darting from room to room. Wendell smiled at her and took her to the room where they stopped in front of the door. Instead of rushing full force into the room like he imagined her to do, Virginia stopped with her hand on the doorknob and simply stared at it, as if frozen in time.  
  
"Virginia? What's wrong?" He asked quietly. "Go on." He urged. Virginia still didn't move and on closer examination, he saw her brow furrowed in thought and her lips pursed. When she didn't answer him, he took her hand off the doorknob and into his own where he squeezed them reassuringly. "Whatever you're unsure about right now, Virginia, isn't going to be any easier to deal with on this side of the door."   
  
She stared at his hands for a long moment before nodding. He was completely stunned by her sudden change of moods and expressions, but after everything he knew she had gone through, his mind told him they were normal. Virginia took her hands out of his and turned back to the door and with a heavy breath, she opened it slowly.  
  
Virginia put her head through the door only slightly and took in the scene before her. Wolf was lying on the bed in the middle of the room; her father was sitting in the chair next to it, watching the nursemaid as she tended to Wolf's wound and bandages. The nurse was talking to her father about something, but their voices were low and so she make out anything. Before she could examine the room further, she saw Wolf's nose twitch and suddenly his head flew off the pillow.  
  
"Virginia!" He exclaimed happily as a huge smile covered his face. He instantly winced as he tried to sit up and grabbed his side in obvious pain. The sudden movement pulled on his stitching and forced him to lie back down. Despite the nurse's attempts to calm him, he was all ready pulling the covers off the bed and trying to sit up again. Tony rushed over to Virginia as soon as he saw her and wrapped her in a warm hug. He kissed to the top of her head and barraged her with endless questions and concerns about her welfare.  
  
Virginia rolled her eyes with a smile. "I'm fine, Dad." She said simply and cut him off before he could ask more questions. She turned back to Wolf who was being held down by the small maid and wondered how much longer the scene would last before he bit her.   
  
"Calm down, sir, you need your rest." She was telling him. Both were too involved with their fight that neither really noticed Virginia approach. "You can't be jumping around with that injury of yours!" The nurse managed to say and she increased her hold on him. She was awfully lucky that Wolf was hurt, otherwise she'd be the one laying in the bed by now, bandages and all.   
  
Both stopped their struggle instantly as Virginia came up to the other side of the bed and crossed her arms over her chest and raised one eyebrow. "You can let me go." Wolf said to the nurse with a deep tone, daring her to keep her arms in range for another second. She let go with a sigh and grabbed her basket of towels before leaving the room with a huff.  
  
Wendell came up behind Tony who was still near the entrance and tapped him on the shoulder. He motioned him to follow and head outside the door to give Virginia and Wolf some privacy. After a considered amount of time to decide, Tony agreed with a wry smile and shut the door behind him. For a long moment, neither Wolf nor Virginia said anything. They both took the time to stare into each other's eyes and smiled lightly, the air was tense and both were unsure what to say or how to start. Virginia was the first to break the silence as she carefully sat down on the bed next to him.  
  
"How are you?" She asked as she gently placed her hand on the white bandage that was wrapped around his upper abdomen. She was careful and kept her hand away from the wound to avoid from applying any unwanted pressure to it.   
  
"I'll live." He joked lightly. Wolf lifted his hand up and softly stroked Virginia's cheek. "Thank you." He said solemnly.  
  
"Wolf, I..."  
  
"Virginia, I..."  
  
They both began in unison and turned away from the other. They turned back in revelation of the words started between the two and paused again. The silence was absolutely deafening to Wolf so he pulled his head forward lightly and motioned for her to continue, and after a minute, she did.  
  
"Wolf, I'm the one who should be thanking you. Dad told me what you both went through to find me ... and what you did after that mirror broke. He told me everything..."  
  
"Everything?" Wolf asked warily, his eyes widening.  
  
"Well, mostly, I think. Before I went to the Swamp Witch he explained most of your trip. From Kissing Town all the way up to the Troll's palace." She said and noticed his uneasiness. "Why?"   
  
"Um, well ... did, did, he say anything about a girl named Samantha by any chance?"  
  
"No, why?" Virginia slightly glared down at him.  
  
Instantly, Wolf caught that tone in her voice as she mistook his words. "No, it wasn't anything like that!" He declared defensively. "Um, did he tell you anything about what happened that night between us?" He asked and then wanted to take back his words as he saw her expression harden. "No, wait, wrong choice of words." He paused and worded his next sentence carefully in his mind before speaking. "I meant; did Tony tell you what happened the night we got the second crystal?" He sighed, that was better.  
  
Virginia's expression softened and she shook her head lightly. "He just told me that you got the second one in a small town before going to the swamp. Why? What happened?" She asked quizzically. Wolf didn't speak, nor did he make eye contact with her. Instead, he stared down at his hands where he was wringing them roughly. After several minutes passed, she put her hands over his and held them still before asking again. "What happened?"  
  
"Virginia..." He started with a heavy sigh. "It was my fault."   
  
"What was your fault?" She asked gently. Whatever was bothering him was having a hard impact.  
  
"It was my fault that you had to stay at the Troll's Palace so long, and even at all. It was also my fault that you had to go to the Deadly Swamp."  
  
"Wha.."  
  
"Virginia I didn't mean to, I swear I would never, ever put you in danger. But everything that happened was my fault. I'm so sorry." If he could get to his feet, he'd be on his knees begging for her forgiveness. He was clutching her clothes and trying to prove his innocence to her so much that he ignored the side effect pain from his movements in his side.  
  
"Wolf, what are you talking about?" She asked, completely confused.   
  
"Huff Puff, everything! This whole thing was my fault to begin with! If I had been prepared at the cottage, you would've never been taken." He paused and took a deep, shaky breath. "Then, that night we got the second crystal, I...I.."  
  
When he kept stuttering incoherently, she pushed his answer. "You what?"   
  
"Cripes! It was that moon!" He shouted angrily at himself. He tossed in the bed and wished that he could have enough strength to pace the room. Being so helpless and weak on the bed made it even worse; he was forced to look her in the eyes as he told her. "The moon came up and I lost it. I attacked Samantha, I got hit with an ax, and I..." He paused and stared at Virginia's face.  
  
Finding it too difficult to explain to her and look at her loving eyes, he covered his with his hand and rubbed them. "And, I... I almost killed Tony." He said as a slight whisper. He wished that he had covered his ears so that he could've blocked the sharp intake of breath from Virginia's direction. "I'm so sorry, Virginia. I didn't mean to, it wasn't me."  
  
When he took his hand off his eyes, he saw Virginia staring into her lap as everything he told her sunk in. "And, I wish that was it." Her head snapped up and her face questioned what he could've possibly done besides that. She shook her head slightly with doubt, but before she could speak, he did.  
  
"Virginia, ever since I met you," He began. "I promised myself that I would never put you into any danger." Wolf put his hand back to her cheekbone and ran his thumb over her cheek. "As if this whole kidnapping thing wasn't enough ... I'm the reason you went to the Swamp Witch's cottage. When Tony and I were there, I--"  
  
"Wolf," She began as she clasped his hand. "I know what happened."   
  
"You do?" He asked. When she nodded, his face changed and he looked like a puppy that had been kicked.  
  
"I spoke with Snow White again," She stopped and almost laughed at how she had said those words. If she were talking to anyone else, they'd probably think her to be mentally ill. She shook off her thought and continued. "...and she explained to me everything that happened. It wasn't your fault Wolf, none of this was. You have no reason to be punishing yourself over this, it was meant to be, no matter what we did." She paused and her face lightened up. "Call it destiny." Both Wolf and Virginia laughed lightly.  
  
Virginia began to stroke his cheek as well and felt tears welling up in her eyes. "I love you, Wolf." She whispered with a small smile. "I don't want to lose you again." Wolf pulled her hand to kiss mouth and kissed it lightly.  
  
"I love you too, and you won't." He whispered back. Wolf encircled his arm around her waist and pulled her down, and halfway he met her into a kiss. Virginia's arms wrapped around his neck and he pulled her closer and down. When the long kiss was broken, they both stared into each other's eyes again, but this time it was not fear of what was unsaid between them. It was love for one another and the safety in each other's eyes, and that was something no one could take from them.  
  
***************************  
  
Sitting quietly on top of a small hill that touched the edge of the Royal Forests, Ann and her horse overlooked the estates and King Wendell's castle that was beautifully glowing in the night. Her lip curled with venom and her stomach turned with loathing for the Fair Virginia was safety nestled inside. She had escaped again.  
  
Ann's life had changed so drastically in little over a month and Virginia was the one person to blame for that. First she lost her sister, then her home and now her family's respect when the learned of her failure. The entire Peep clan had put their faith into her to see the job was done after she had requested to do so, and now she didn't even have them. With her family turning on their backs on her, it was the last straw.  
  
"I'm going to see that you pay for everything you've done, Virginia." She hissed under her breath. "This I vow, if it's the last thing I do." Ann sneered and turned her horse. With a kick of her heels and a neigh from the horse, she took off into the forests.   
  
Revenge was a sweet thing, especially when you knew the perfect way to make a person pay. Time would bring Virginia to her undoing, and Ann was sure she would be there to deliver the final blow.   
  
  
~*~ END ~*~  
  
  



End file.
